‘Accept My Plea for Burial’ is a Somali social drama and thriller being developed by director Mohammed Sheikh, centred on a village’s response to the unexplained death of a child. The film explores how grief, customary law and pressure for social peace can overwhelm uncertainty, placing ordinary people in moral conflicts without clear answers.

Set in a remote pastoral village, the story follows 12-year-olds Waasuge and Warmooge, whose rivalry ends when Warmooge falls into a dry riverbed and dies. With only an unreliable witness and no definitive evidence, Warmooge’s mother refuses burial until justice is achieved, while elders attempt to settle the dispute through religious and traditional means. The Djibouti–Somalia–Qatar co-production was presented at Locarno Film Festival’s 2026 Open Doors programme and was one of two main recipients of the Open Doors Grant.