- Films and events
- Love
- The Gravedigger’s Wife
The Gravedigger’s Wife
With his deceptively simple but heartfelt feature debut, director Khadar Ahmed follows a man as he desperately tries to seek help for his ailing wife.
-
Director-Screenwriter
Khadar Ayderus Ahmed
-
Producers
Misha Jaari, Thanassis Karathanos, Stéphane Parthenay
-
With
Omar Abdi, Yasmin Warsame, Khadar Abdoul-Aziz Ibrahim
-
Finland-France-Germany 2021. 82min
-
Sales
Orange Studio
-
Language
Somali
With English subtitles
Guled (Omar Abdi) lives on the outskirts of Djibouti City with his wife Nasra (Yasmin Warsame) and their teenage son. Like his friends, Guled is a gravedigger; known locally as Ambulance Chasers, they make a living off the death of others. Nasra has been diagnosed with a kidney infection and desperately needs treatment. Guled has to somehow come up with $5,000 or Nasra will likely die. Left with no choice, he has to return to his home village to seek the help of the people he once knew, leaving Nasra in the care of their son. Contrasting Guled’s plight with the stunning landscape of Djibouti – the arid environment rapturously shot by Arttu Peltomaa – Ahmed’s understated drama profits from Abdi’s compelling central performance.
Keith Shiri

You may also enjoy

Lingui, the Sacred Bonds
Following his international success with A Screaming Man, Daratt and Abouna, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s powerful new drama once again celebrates the heroic individualism of ordinary people.

Clara Sola
Bold, iconoclastic and resolutely celebrating the power of difference, Clara Sola is a beautiful, atmospheric and imaginative tale of self-discovery that delights in nature’s minutiae and magic.

A Hero
Asghar Farhadi’s signature cinematic web-weaving is deployed to captivating effect in his Cannes Grand Prix-winning drama – a reflection on the grey line between right and wrong.


BFI Membership
Become a BFI Member from £37 to enjoy priority Festival booking as well as other great benefits all year round.
Join today

Trailers and clips
A taste of what’s to come in the 65th BFI London Film Festival.
Watch clips and trailers