Eye In The Sky

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A scraping sound as the door of a small brick oven opens.

FATIMA MO’ALLIM, early 30's, slender, Somali, reaches in and

places loaves of unbaked bread into the wood-fire oven.

A worn blue headscarf - a hijab - is wrapped around her head

to cover her hair but still reveals her beautiful face.

FATIMA runs a small home bakery business within the walls of

the family compound.

The bakery opens onto a sandy courtyard that surrounds a

small rough brick home with a corrugated sheet metal roof and

a separate, small roughly constructed bicycle workshop.

There are bicycles and bits of bicycles everywhere.

FATIMA’S husband, MUSA (30's) sits on a crate amidst the

bicycles he repairs putting the finishing touches onto a home

made “hula hoop” made of black PVC tubing.

His young daughter, ALIA, 10, watches with impatient

excitement as he inserts a plastic connector into the tube to

join the two ends in a hoop.

ALIA:

ALIA (CONT’D)

Is it done, Papa?!

Weli ma dhameyn miyaa Aabe?!

(Welli mah dah-main meeyah Ah-

be?!)

MUSA MUSA (CONT’D)

Patience, Alia... Dulgaado, Alia...

(Dul-gaar-doh, Alia...)

She fidgets with anticipation.

ALIA:

ALIA (CONT’D)

Do you like the colors I

Maka heshay kalarka aan

used?

isticmaalayo?

(Maka heh-shay kalarka aan

iss-tih-maa-la-yo?)

The tubing has been decorated with bright twists of

electrical tape that form rings of colorful patterns.

MUSA MUSA (CONT’D)

Very pretty... Aad iyo Aad La'Jacleey...

(Aad iyo aad lah-gel-lay...)

YELLOW SHOOTING SCRIPT 12 September 2014 2.

Scattered around the yard are half a dozen discarded hoops of

different sizes and colors.

ALIA ALIA (CONT’D)

This is my best one ever! Kani waa midka aan weligeyga

Jeelaandoono!

(Kani waa midka aan weli-gay

ist-ti-male-donno!)

MUSA smiles, and hands her the hoop. ALIA takes it. She

swings it over her body and around her waist - and SPINS it.

She swings her hips, making the hoop swirl around her body.

ALIA ALIA (CONT’D)

Look, Mama! Hooyo, Fiiri!

(Hoy-yo Fee-ree!)

FATIMA looks out into the yard at her and smiles.

As ALIA continues to spin the hoop, the CAMERA RISES UP over

her and continues to rise, higher and higher, until we are

seeing:

A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW of the compound within the surrounding

neighbourhood setting.

Their home is in a Somali Militia controlled neighbourhood of

Nairobi. The sun has just risen, but people are already on

the move.

Beyond the safety and privacy of the walled family compound,

militia hang out on street corners and guard unofficial

checkpoint barriers on neighbourhood entrances, making it a

no-go area for the Kenyan police.

Within this no-go area they stop cars and search anyone they

suspect of being a Kenyan security police collaborator.

Four YOUNG MEN drive past Alia’s compound in a pickup truck

with a machine gun bolted on to the back. They set the

neighbourhood tone.

As we rise higher we reveal that the whole area is a rabbit-

warren of streets, shops and market stalls.

We FADE IN our TITLE:

EYE IN THE SKY:

Over this we become faintly aware of the low pulse of deep

bass music...

CUT TO:

YELLOW SHOOTING SCRIPT 12 September 2014 3.

2

INT. BEDROOM - POWELL’S HOUSE - SURREY - NIGHT 2

COLONEL KATHERINE POWELL lies awake in bed. Her husband SIMON

sleeps beside her in an eye mask.

ON SCREEN:
SURREY, ENGLAND - 03h15

The thud of music is coming from another room: Quiet, but

loud enough to be irritating once one becomes aware of it.

POWELL has become aware of it and it is now irritating her.

She gets up.

3

INT. LANDING - POWELL’S HOUSE - SURREY - NIGHT 3

POWELL, in her pyjamas, exits her bedroom, crosses the

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