Stars of Tomorrow 2025: Warda Mohamed (writer/director)

Warda Mohamed was not expecting much when she posted a picture of her completed debut feature screenplay Moon on X. Then BBC Film’s head of development Claudia Yusef contacted her asking to read it.

“I told her, ‘It’s a very rough first draft, but I do have a short where I have an actor attached. I have producers. I just need funding, please,’” says the British Somalian filmmaker, who had been trying to finance the project for three years. Within two weeks, BBC Film had agreed to back Muna — a coming-of-age short that would premiere at the Berlinale in 2024 and earn a Bifa nomination.

Now, Mohamed is reteaming with BBC Film for Moon, which she describes as a “Dazed And Confused-type” film about a British Somali teen who decides to run away. Working Title’s Angela Moneke and Simon Hatton are also producing the feature with Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner “godfathering” as executive producers. Filming is expected to commence in the coming year.

Moon reunites her with Kosar Ali, who starred in Muna, the pair having met on Sarah Gavron’s Rocks where Mohamed worked as a director’s assistant. Assisting jobs followed on Edgar Wright’s Last Night In Soho and Roger Michell’s The Duke. “I pulled so many things from each director I worked with. That was my education,” says Mohamed, who has had no formal training.

While most of her work so far has been coming-of-age and focused on the British Somali experience, Mohamed also has a pilot script in her back pocket for a jewellery heist-based series, written on Channel 4’s screenwriting course. “I don’t want to pigeonhole myself so early on,” stresses Mohamed. “I want to be able to tell any type of story.”

Contact: Alex Rusher, Independent Talent 

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