Contributor

Thymaya Payne

Director, producer

A University of Chicago and AFI graduate born in New York and currently residing in Los Angeles, Thymaya is an expert in Somali piracy. He has spent over three years collecting the contacts and researching on the ground to direct and produce a film of this magnitude. Piracy is not a story that can be telegraphed in from afar, but rather something that requires hands-on experience. Thymaya has directed a number of films including the short films Apparent Horizon, Let’s Not and Say We Did, and Coup De Grace. He was awarded the Uzielli award at AFI, the Boccolino' D'oro at Locarno, and the John Schlessinger award at the Palm Springs Film Festival. In the summer of 2010 he completed his Love Limits (released by Fanlight/Icarus films). Stolen Seas is his first theatrical documentary.

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