Hodan's Story

Who she was

Hodan Nalayeh was a Somali-Canadian journalist. In 2014 she founded Integration TV to tell Somali success stories to the world. She was my friend and my mentor.

We met at FEVA TV, where I was Producer and Creative Director. She'd come in to pitch Integration TV. On her way out she stopped at my room and said, "I've heard about you." In December 2015 she took me to Somalia, my first time in Africa, and I went back with her five or six times after that.

In July 2019 she was killed in an attack in Kismayo, Somalia.

Why I made it

Hodan's Story is my tribute to her. I wrote and directed it for CBC Short Docs, and it premiered on 8 October 2022.

Everyone told me to be careful in Somalia. I went without fear, because I was going with Hodan, and she was the positive light.

The film ends with her own words: "Don't be sad, because I did what I wanted to do."

What she left us

Hodan is where purpose-driven storytelling started for me. She never made the story about herself. It was about the people. That's still how we work at Corex: the story belongs to the people living it.