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