Inspired by true events, “The Falconer” is about two best friends, Tariq, the son of a poor beekeeper, and Cai, a privileged Westerner. They work at a dilapidated zoo in Oman. Their care-free friendship is challenged when Tariq promises to help his sister, Alia, escape from an abusive marriage. Cai’s worldview and love for animals is pitted against Tariq’s daring plan to steal animals from the zoo and sell them to save Alia. They are forced to wrestle with morally complex choices that reveal the vast distance between their worlds.
The Falconer is an adventure movie, but at its core, it’s a story about the friendship of two boys from very different worlds. Artistically and stylistically, we worked hard to create moments of humanity where the boys’ friendship comes alive in the midst of their larger than life adventure. We set these moments near the ocean a “third place” that is neither a part of Tariq nor Cai’s world.
As filmmakers who have traveled a lot but who never lived in the Middle East, it was important to us do everything in our power to make a film “from” the region not “about” the region. This meant bringing the real-life Cai and Tariq to set, working with village women to plan the traditional wedding and surrounding ourselves with incredible creatives in the region. What we learned from them informed both the story and the visual language of the film.
The true story of The Falconer is fantastical and larger than life. To translate it to the screen, we have lifted it out of its historical moment, during the spring of 2011, obscured some of the particulars, without losing the adventure, and focused in on its most elemental, universal core: a story of brotherhood.
When we asked the real-life Cai if we could make a film about his life in Yemen, we asked if there was a “love story.” He laughed and said, “The real love story is between me and Tariq.”
We are making this movie because we relate to this story. In our lives and travels, we’ve often felt like Cai, the privileged Westerner. And throughout the world, we have experienced the friendship and kinship that he and Tariq share.
The facts of the story are so specific and peculiar that they add to the realism of a friendship and brotherhood that anyone, anywhere can relate to. And so the specific becomes universal.
This story should not be surprising to a global audience but hopefully it will be. Yemen and the corner of the world in which it resides, has often been painted with broad, cumbersome strokes of tired stereotypes and wildly unhelpful generalizations by Hollywood and the news.
This film is our love letter to this part of the world. And an ode to the universality of kinship, friendship and love that goes beyond blood.
The Falconer is the first international film in history to be filmed entirely in Oman. Hopefully, it will inspire audiences to have a meaningful dialogue about privilege and friendship between people from very different cultures.
co-written & co-directed by Seanne Winslow & Adam Sjoberg
produced by David Jacobson, Seanne Winslow & Adam Sjoberg
In Songs of a Lost Island, NFL great Troy Polamalu tells the story of his own upbringing as a poor Samoan kid in Southern California, and his rise to become perhaps the greatest to ever play in his position.
Filled with stunning footage shot over ten years traveling to American Samoa, “Songs of a Lost Island” places Troy’s own story within the backdrop of the island of American Samoa, it’s vibrant cultural heritage, obsession with football, and uncertain future.
Troy Polamalu grew up a poor kid in Southern California, far from the rugged lifestyle of his extended family on Manu’a Island. But the fa’a Samoa is embedded in every fiber of his being. Fierce on the field, but mild-mannered and stoic off the field, Troy embodied his warrior ancestry and their commitment to the village as a player and a family man.
Troy’s own personal story is interwoven with the story of two Samoan high school football players, Fa’alili and Francisco, quarterbacks on opposing teams, as they fight to earn a spot off-island in a major college football program.
Songs of a Lost Island explores the themes of globalization and cultural decay, as the people of American Samoa fight for their place in a modern world while desperately clinging to the vestiges of the Samoan Way, a song that calls the island’s sons and daughters home from every corner of the planet.
“The Messenger”
“The corrupt revolutionary leader Yoweri Museveni has ruled Uganda for over 30 years. Now, the country’s biggest pop star, Bobi Wine, is leading a movement to overthrow him — a gamble that could cost him his life.”
Adam has been traveling to Uganda for over fifteen years and has developed life-long personal and professional connections to the country and culture. In many ways, he feels more at home in Kabalagala, an upbeat party district in Kampala, than anywhere else on a Friday night.
After working with Spotify on the series “Monster” about 21 Savage, Sjoberg teamed up with Dana Ballout and new podcast startup Awfully Nice to help develop and produce the documentary podcast series “The Messenger,” which was released in January 2021 in the lead-up to Uganda’s most recent national elections.
The 8-episode series follows the life story of Uganda’s favorite musician, Bobi Wine, the “Ghetto President,” and his rise from poverty, to famous musician, the the primary opposition candidate poised to unseat long-time dictator Yoweri Museveni.
“Musically rich and compellingly listenable, it’s full of good tape from memorable characters and questions about celebrity, art, populism, politics, and power” (The New Yorker).
J. Cole’s Dreamville Studios partnered on the project, and the podcast is voiced by Sudanese-American rapper Bas.
Operating under a pseudonym which means "no boundaries", North Korean defector, Sun Mu, doesn't just paint about his troubled life in the world’s most reclusive and repressive state - he paints images of hope.
Sun Mu's work is imbued with nuance and heartbreak, political pop art that inverts the propaganda work he used to paint for the North Korean regime. In July of 2014, Sun Mu is offered an historic, though potentially dangerous, opportunity - a solo exhibition in the capital of Asian Art - Beijing. As he prepares his show undercover, an unexpected turn of events puts Sun Mu and all of his friends and family in danger.
Adam produced, directed, and shot I Am Sun Mu, documenting Sun Mu in his home and studio in Seoul, South Korea, as well as the secret art studio outside of Beijing where he created the infamous exhibit around which the story centers. The film is filled with vibrant animation, bringing his sketches and paintings to life as Sun Mu retells his harrowing story of escape and repatriation.
“I Am Sun Mu” was produced in partnership with Liberty in North Korea, a nonprofit organization working with the North Korean people to accelerate change. The organization brings North Korean refugees to freedom through a 3,000 mile rescue route. To help more North Koreans like Sun Mu, you can make a donation.
“From executive producer and rapper Nasir “Nas” Jones and journalist-turned-filmmaker Adam Sjöberg, Shake the Dust chronicles the influence of breakdancing, exploring how it strikes a resonant chord in the slums, favelas and ghettos of the world and far beyond. Showcasing some of the most jaw-dropping breakdancing moves ever committed to film, Shake the Dust is an inspiring tribute to the uplifting power of music and movement.”
“Shake the Dust” was Adam’s first forray into feature documentary filmmaking. He began shooting it in December of 2010 in Kampala, Uganda, documenting the vibrant breaking community in East Africa, and then went on to Yemen in early 2011. Production lasted several years as he continued to return to Uganda, made several trips to Bogotá, Colombia, as well as Pnomh Penh, Cambodia.
Rap legend Nas came on board to executive produce the film in 2014 before its release, helping craft the final cut of the film and promoting the story through branded collaborations and media appearances.
The film has gone on to be screened worldwide at dozens of hip-hop festivals, film festivals, and universities, and has become an example of positive, subject-driven counter-narratives to the often sensationalized kinds of storytelling that emerge from places the rest of the world has often deemed “third world” or “developing.” Adam used this project as a platform and training ground for what would become a lifelong pursuit: ethical global storytelling.
Executive Producer - Nas
Director - Adam Sjoberg
Producer - David Jacobson
Rapper 21 Savage tours his breakout album while working on his second. With unprecedented access to Atlanta rap superstar 21 Savage, “Monster” chronicles an artist at the top of his career struggling to define who he should become while the demons of his past and present life continue to swirl around and inside him.
From Director, Cedarian Wilson:
Every black man in America unknowingly signs a contract, when they are born. This contract will wholeheartedly and unapologetically define their character and who they are in society,s pre-emptively.
When I was born, I signed that contract just like everyone else that was around me. But somewhere along the line I realized that that contract was not binding. It didn't define who I was. It didn't even understand who I was. Every day, as I become more and more self aware, I gain the strength and courage to tear that contract up, piece by piece. Even though I've torn up what I feel like is a majority of that contract, this is still a work-in-progress.
THIS.... is the 21 Savage that I’ve witnessed day-in and day-out. On tour. Late nights at the studio. In Atlanta’s clubs. When he’s in his element with HIS people, and even when he feels like he's performing as a robot, for people who are only there to get a piece of him, or to merely be entertained.
Savage's world in Atlanta is invariably complex and nuanced. But the thing that the average person, listening to his music, doesn't understand is that his craft, the content of his songs, the quintessential gangster album that everyone wants him to make, comes at a great cost.
This isn't just another story. This isn't just another rap documentary. This isn't just a cool moment in time because it's a 21 Savage music documentary and fans can see how the album was made behind the scenes. It’s not just a film about an artist trying to find his voice in the fog of sudden stardom. It's much more than that. It’s a conversation about the complexities of fame, layered heavily with the darkness that exists constantly around and within Savage. Just as an aside; you won’t likely find the word trap anywhere in this film.
It’s about an African-American man, bred into a cycle of violence and crime, struggling with the paradox of his loyalty to his people and fading former identity, and a search for a new identity that may very well be out of his grasp because maybe, deep down, he doesn't even want to become that person.
At the end of the day, this film is about how much power African-Americans are willing to give this contract that they unwillingly signed.
Commercial Work
As a commercial director Adam has worked with large corporate brands, bespoke mid-sized companies, and small boutique business alike, often (though not exclusively) creating work that bridges the corporate world to social causes. His clients include Starbucks, Mini Cooper, Warby Parker, Comcast, Belvedeer Vodka, The One Campaign, Project (RED), Apple, Whole Foods, and Habitat for Humanity.