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The Gravedigger’s Wife

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The Gravedigger’s Wife

by Khadar Ayderus Ahmed

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.

Drama / Germany / France / Finland, 82min 51sec, 2021
HD – Farbe – 5.1 – 2.39:1 – 2K DCP – Somali

World Premiere: Cannes | Semaine de la Critique | 07. – 15.07.2021

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.

actor / actress
role
OMAR ABDI Guled Daud
KADAR ABDOUL-AZIZ IBRAHIM Mahad
YASMIN WARSAME Nasra
SAMALEH ALI OBSIEH Ali
HAMDI AHMED OMAR Hassan
SERMAAN ABDOULKADER OMAR Fuad
AWA ALI NOUR Zahra (junge Mutter)
AMINA AYANLEH OMAR Nimco
author & director Khadar Ayderus Ahmed
producers Misha Jaari & Mark Lwoff, Risto Nikkilä,
Thanassis Karathanos & Martin Hampel,
Stéphane Parthenay & Robin Boespflug-Vonier
production TWENTY TWENTY VISION
FILMPRODUKTION GMBH (Deutschland), BUFO OY (Finnland) und PYRAMIDE PRODUCTIONS (Frankreich)
in co-production with ZDF/ARTE, YLE
supported by  FFHSH – Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein
Doha Film Institut
The Finnish Film Foundation
WCF – World Cinema Fund Africa
AFAC – The Arab Fund for Culture
CNC – Cinema du Monde
Church Media Foundation
sales Orange Studio France
DOP Arttu Peltomaa
editor Sebastian Thümler
production design
Antti Nikkinen
costum Anu Gould
make-up & hair Nadine Otsobogo-Boucher
sound mixer / recordist Tero Matikainen
sound design Karri Niinivaara
composer Andre Matthias
production manager
Kaisa Roover
1st AD Iiris Juutilainen
1st AC
Petri Kiljunen

WORLD PREMIERE: Cannes | Semaine de la Critique | 07 – 15.07.2021

AWARDS:
* Amplify Voices Award at Toronto Film Festival, Canada.
* Special Mention of the Grand Prix Jury at Arab Film Festival, France
* Critics Award for Best Film at Fespaco, Burkina Faso
* Golden Stallion of Yennenga for Best Film at Fespaco, Burkina Faso
* Best Music by Andre Matthias at Fespaco, Burkina Faso
* NDR Film Award for Best Film at the Nordic Film Days, Lübeck
* INTERFILM Church Film Award for Best Film at the Nordic Film Days Lübeck, Germany
* Best Actor Award for Omar Abdi Nuh at the JCC Carthage Film Festival, Tunisia
* Special Mention of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) at the JCC Carthage Film Festival, Tunisia
* Africa Movie Academy Awards – nominations for best African-language film, best make-up, best soundtrack, best sound, best production design, best cinematography, best lead actor, best debut, best director, best film
* Audience Award for Best Film + Special Mention by the Jury of the competition “New Voices” at Films from the South, Norway

FESTIVALS:
Den Norske Filmfestivalen i Haugesund, Norway
MIFF – Melbourne International Film Festival, Australia
Sydney Film Festival, Australia
TIFF – Toronto International Film Festival, Canada
Filmfest Hamburg, Germany
BFI London Film Festival, UK
Arab Film Festival Tübingen, Germany
Chicago International Film Festival, UK
Fespaco, Burkina Faso
Valladolid IFF, Spain
Morelia IFF, Mexico
JCC-Journee Cinematographique de Carthage, Tunisia
Nordic Film Days Lübeck, Germany
Festival Internatinal du Cinéma Francophone en Acadie, Kanada
Afrikamera Berlin, Deutschland
Films from the South in Oslo, Norway
IFFI – International Filmfestival of India, Goa/India
Red Sea IFF, Saudi Arabia
IFF Kerala, India
Palm Springs IFF, USA
French Institute Burkina Faso
International Film Weekend Würzburg, Germany
NAACP Image Awards, USA
Glasgow Film Festival, Great Britain
Festival du Film de Mons, Belgium
Vues d’Afrique, Canada
FIFF Fribourg, Switzerland
HKIFF, Hong Kong
FESCAAL30, Italy
IFF Miami, USA
HKIFF, Hong Kong
FESCAAL30, Italien
IFF Miami, USA