The Gravedigger’s Wife

  • a film by Khadar Ayderus Ahmed
  • Feature film
  • 83 min
  • 2021

In times of misfortune, Guled and his family have to push themselves to the limits in order to find strength to re-unite their family.

Trailer
Info

  • Genre

    • Drama

  • Countries of Production

    • Germany / France / Finland

  • Language

    • Somali

  • World premiere

    • 7th July 2021 – Cannes | Semaine de la Critique

  • a production by

    • Twenty Twnety Vision, Bufo Oy, Pyramide Productions

  • in co-production with

    • ZDF – Das kleine Fernsehspiel, ARTE und YLE

  • with the support of

    • The Finnish Film Foundation, CNC, MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, World Cinema Fund, Doha Film Institute, The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, Kirkon Mediasäätiö, Konstsamfundet

  • World Sales

    • Orange Studio France
Synopsis

Middle-aged Guled, a kindhearted gravedigger living with his family in the outskirts of Djibouti city, is working hard to make ends meet. His 13-year old son Mahad spends more time on the streets with homeless children than at home, and his beloved wife Nasra suffers from a chronic kidney disease and desperately needs an operation. Otherwise, she will not survive.
In order to fund Nasra’s operation, Guled should quickly be able to collect as much money as a gravedigger normally earns in a year. But how far Guled and Mahad are willing to go in order to save Nasra’s life? The Gravedigger is the story of a family that, in times of misfortune, have to push themselves to the limits in order to find enough strength to be able to reunite.

THE GRAVEDIGGER’S WIFE is a family story about finding strength, sustaining love and force in the most difficult times. It’s about loving under impossible conditions, pushing beyond your limits, risking your own life in order to do what you believe in when nobody else does.

Cast

  • Guled Daud

    • OMAR ABDI

  • Mahad

    • KADAR ABDOUL-AZIZ IBRAHIM

  • Nasra

    • YASMIN WARSAME

  • Ali

    • SAMALEH ALI OBSIEH

  • Hassan

    • HAMDI AHMED OMAR

  • Fuad

    • SERMAAN ABDOULKADER OMAR

  • Zahra (Young mother)

    • AWA ALI NOUR

  • Nimco

    • AMINA AYANLEH OMAR
Crew

  • Written by

    • Khadar Ayderus Ahmed

  • Directed by

    • Khadar Ayderus Ahmed

  • Producers

    • Misha Jaari & Mark Lwoff, Risto Nikkilä, Thanassis Karathanos & Martin Hampel, Stéphane Parthenay & Robin Boespflug-Vonier

  • Director of photography

    • Arttu Peltomaa

  • Editor

    • Sebastian Thümler

  • Set design

    • Antti Nikkinen

  • Music

    • Andre Matthias

  • Kostüm

    • Anu Gould

  • Make-up & Hair

    • Nadine Otsobogo-Boucher

  • Filmtonmeister

    • Tero Matikainen

  • Sound Design

    • Karri Niinivaara

  • Produktionsleiter

    • Kaisa Roover

  • 1. Regie-Assistent

    • Iiris Juutilainen

  • 1. Kameraassistent

    • Petri Kiljunen
Festivals
  • Cannes | Semaine de la Critique, WELTPREMIERE
  • Den Norske Filmfestivalen i Haugesund, Norwegen
  • MIFF – Melbourne IFF, Australien
  • Sydney FF, Australien
  • TIFF – Toronto IFF, Kanada
  • Filmfest Hamburg
  • BFI London FF
  • Arabisches FF Tübingen
  • Chicago IFF, UK
  • Fespaco, Burkina Faso
  • Valladolid IFF, Spanien
  • Morelia IFF, Mexico
  • JCC-Journee Cinematographique de Carthage, Tunesien
  • Nordische Filmtage Lübeck, Deutschland
  • Festival Internatinal du Cinéma Francophone en Acadie, Kanada
  • Afrikamera Berlin, Deutschland
  • Films from the South Festival in Oslo, Norwegen
  • IFFI – Internationales Filmfestival von Indien, Indien
  • Red Sea IFF, Saudi-Arabien
  • IFF Kerala, Indien
  • Palm Springs IFF, USA
  • Französisches Institut Burkina Faso
  • Internationales Filmwochenende Würzburg, Deutschland
  • NAACP Image Awards, USA
  • Glasgow FF, GB
  • Festival du Film de Mons, Belgien
  • Vues d'Afrique, Kanada
  • FIFF Freiburg, Schweiz
  • HKIFF, Hong Kong
  • FESCAAL30, Italien
  • IFF Miami, USA
Awards
  • Amplify Voices Award / Toronto Film Festival, Canada
  • Special mention of the Grand Prix Jury / Arabic FF, France
  • Critics' Prize for Best Film at Fespaco / Burkina Faso
  • Golden Stallion of Yennenga for best film / Fespaco, Burkina Faso
  • Best music by Andre Matthias/ Fespaco, Burkina Faso
  • NDR Film Award for Best Film / Nordic Film Days, Lübeck
  • Church Film Award INTERFILM for Best Film / Nordic Film Days, Lübeck
  • Award for Best Actor for Omar Abdi Nuh / JCC Carthage FF, Tunisia
  • Special mention of the International Association of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) / JCC Carthage FF, Tunisia
  • Nominations for best African-language film, best make-up, best soundtrack, best sound, best set design, best cinematography, best leading actor, best debut, best director, best film / Africa Movie Academy Awards
  • Audience Award for Best Film + Jury Mention of the Competition "New Voices" Films from the South, Norway

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