When rookie writer and proud Canadian Jay Bahadur (Evan Peters) has a chance encounter with his journalist idol (Al Pacino), he decides to uproot his life in the name of research for his first book. Abandoning his comfortable life, he moves to Somalia to investigate a still-unfolding situation with pirates off the country’s coast. It’s 2008 and the cargo vessel MV Faina has just been hijacked. Based on a true story, Dabka follows a naïve young journalist’s headlong dive into a country he has no business being in. A free agent without government support or a publishing deal, Jay bucks conventions to conduct a raw, on the ground investigation. Director Bryan Buckley takes a cinematic look at Bahadur’s ill-planned adventure as it becomes a tale of honor, resilience and friendship. Featuring Melanie Griffith as Jay’s mother, Barkhad Abdi as his translator and main local contact, and supporting cast of Somali non-actors.

—Elizabeth Rao