Comic Relief/BBC Team Filming Documentary on Somaliland

Hargeisa (SL Times): Comic Relief, a UK-based humanitarian organization, is collaborating with the BBC in the production of a one hour documentary film on life in the Republic of Somaliland that will be broadcast on BBC Television one. The production crew has already arrived in Hargeisa along with top UK Comedian Billy Connolly.

According to Comic Relief’s Richard Graham, the film will tell the story of Somaliland from various angles. It will tell about the war that happened here, the refugee crisis and the subsequent return of people back to their homes. To catch images of these events and their aftermath, the team has been documenting life in returnee/displaced settlement areas such as the Sheikh Nur camp in Hargeisa and localities in rural Gabiley. The documentary film will be used by Comic Relief for the purpose of raising the awareness of the British public about the needs here and elsewhere in Africa so as to generate support for humanitarian assistance.

"The film will also tell some positive stories by meeting some people who are doing good things because in Comic Relief, we feel strongly for portraying Africa not as a place of hopeless causes but rather as a place of hope as well as of need."

Comic Relief is actually sponsoring various developmental programs in Somaliland. Among the organizations it supports are Vet-Aid, African Educational Trust, ICD and Havayoco. All these groups are run by Somalilanders and are engaged in long-term programs.

Comic Relief organizes big fund raising events in the UK once every 2 years. It sells Comic Relief products such as the Red Nose, Tea Shirts, badges and others. In 2001, it raised 55 million pounds in donations from the British public. The organization also follows community-based fund raising methods whereby people are solicited for donations at their place of work or education.
A specially produced 7 hour-long TV program show is also used to get viewers contribute to humanitarian work through their credit cards.

The documentary on Somaliland will extensively use Hargeisa Group Hospital as an example of the enormous difficulties that Somalilanders face in terms of scarcity of basic services such as health. "The hospital will visually represent what it means for poor people to have very little health care and then not to be able to afford the little that is available," Graham explained.

The documentary on Somaliland is expected to be aired on BBC1 some time in late February, while the next Red Nose day is scheduled for March 14.

See below for background of Comedian Billy Connolly.

BILLY CONNOLLY (Barry), best known to U.S. audiences for his comedic work, gave a moving performance as the loyal servant John Brown in the highly acclaimed Mrs. Brown, starring with Dame Judi Dench. He will next be seen in Timeline and Who is Cletis Tout?

A stand-up comedian who has toured the world, Connolly's previous feature film credits include Troy Duffy's The Boondock Saints; Stephen Metcalfe's Beautiful Joe; Barry Levinson's An Everlasting Piece; Stanley Tucci's The Impostors; Absolution, with Richard Burton; Bullshot And Water, with Michael Caine; Crossing The Line, with Liam Neeson; the Muppet movie version of Treasure Island and the acclaimed BBC production Down Among The Big Bad Boys. His voice is also featured on the Disney animated film Pocahontas. Most recently, Connolly starred in the BBC drama The Life and Crimes of Deacon Brodie.

Connolly is also widely recognized from his hit television series Head of the Class, which was later spun off into his own series Billy. His other television work includes appearances on the sitcom Pearl, with Rhea Pearlman and Malcolm MacDowell; comedy specials for HBO and BBC; Billy Connolly's World Tour of Scotland, a six-part series documenting a tour of his beloved homeland, and The Bigger Picture, a series on Scottish art. Connolly has also released numerous home videos, including 25 BC, Billy And Albert, An Audience With Billy Connolly, Billy Connolly Live and Live '94.

Connolly's career also includes performances in the BBC's Androcles and the Lion, the Scottish Opera production of Die Fleidermaus, and his own play The Red Runner, which performed to packed houses at the Edinburgh Festival.

He began his career as a musician, touring with Gerry Rafferty and the folk band The Humblebums. Connolly's humorous introduction soon became an audience favorite and in 1971 he played his first solo concert. This led to The Great Northern Welly Boot Show, a mixture of music and talk that established his talent as a popular entertainer. He went on to release a double album and a number one hit single, D.I.V.O.R.C.E. Since then, he has released numerous hit comedy records and published several comedic books.

Biography

"He is, by some considerable margin, the UK's Top comedian."

Born in Glasgow on the 24th of November 1942.

Billy left school early to become a welder in the Glasgow shipyards. He went on to serve in the parachute regiment of the Territorial Army.

He was one half of the Humblebums, a duo with Gerry Rafferty.

His musical career increasingly found itself taking a back seat to his comic monologues to the point where he became known as a comedian first and formost. He acheived widespread notoriety in his native Scotland before exploding onto the national scene in the early 1970's.

His film career has gone from strength to strength and he has acted with some the most prestigious names in Cinema. Richard Burton, Michael Caine, Robert Redford, Mel Gibson, Liam Neeson, Willem Dafoe and others, but it was with the Award Winning film Her Majesty Mrs. Brown with Dame Judi Dench that his growing stature as an actor received international recognition.

He has produced several BBC documentaries and factual programmes including A Scot in the Arctic, World Tour of Australia and the World Tour of Scotland.

He has starred in numerous other films and continues to tour as a comedian throughout the world.

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