# Fathia Absie (Fadxiya Cabsiye)

> Fathia Absie: Somali-American filmmaker of Broken Dreams and The Lobby, graphic novelist and co-founder of Eat With Muslims.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/people/fathia-absie/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## Who is she?

Fathia Absie is a Somali-American writer, producer, actor and filmmaker ([Wikipedia, Fathia Absie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fathia_Absie)). She has made documentaries and fiction films, and published a graphic novel (same source). She co-founded Eat With Muslims, which brings Muslims and non-Muslims together over dinner (same source).

## Work before film

She was a social worker ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fathia_Absie)). She worked for the [Ohio](/en/diaspora/columbus/) Department of Job and Family Services in Columbus, the University of Washington in [Seattle](/en/diaspora/seattle/), and Voice of America in Washington, D.C. (same source). She moved to Minnesota around 2010 and joined ECHO, a Minnesota organisation serving immigrant communities, in 2013 (same source). See [Somalis in Minneapolis and St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/).

## Films and books

- **Broken Dreams (2011):** her first documentary, about the community's response to the recruitment of young Somali men in Minnesota by armed groups ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fathia_Absie)). Wikipedia notes that the FBI opened one of its largest counter-terrorism investigations into the disappearances (same source).
- **The Imperceptible Peacemaker (2014):** a self-published graphic novel about an invisible hero fighting injustice (same source).
- **The Lobby (2015):** a fiction film about a white man and a Somali-American woman, which she wrote, directed and starred in. It premiered at the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Film Festival in April 2015 (same source).
- **A Stray (2016)** (same source).

In 2017 she acted in Eric Tretbar's film *First Person Plural* (same source). Wikipedia says she began work on *Grapes of Heaven*, a story set in Berbera that draws on the poet [Elmi Boodhari](/en/people/elmi-boodhari/) (same source). She has also hosted programmes on Twin Cities PBS (same source).

## In short

A Somali-American filmmaker and writer whose films include Broken Dreams (2011) and The Lobby (2015).

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