Hundreds of Somalis gathered in Dubai this weekend to watch The Gravedigger’s Wife, a powerful film by Khadar Ayderus Ahmed.
The Finnish-Somali writer-director was there to screen his award-winning movie, which had its premiere at Cannes Film Festival last year, at Cinema Akil’s first Arab Cinema Week, which ended on Sunday.
For 10 days, the programme by Cinema Akil showcased films and creators from 11 Arab countries. Ahmed’s film, which was Somalia’s first entry for the Best International Feature Film at the Academy Awards, was among those screened for the first time in the UAE.
It tells the story of Guled (played by Omar Abdi), a gravedigger in Djibouti who is struggling to raise money to pay for surgery for his wife, Nasra (Yasmin Warsame), who has kidney disease.
“When I first heard there was a Somali film submitted for an Oscar, I couldn’t believe it,” said Siham Hussein Dini, who works at First Abu Dhabi Bank and travelled from Sharjah to watch it.
“The point I took from the movie is it represents the actual love that we are all used to. Love isn’t a fairy tale as we see in happy endings. Love can be found at every end of the universe.”
She said the film, in particular the ending, was “very powerful”.
“As soon as I left the cinema, I called my friends and family to show off with pride about our Somali movie.”
This is exactly what Ahmed was trying to achieve. “The movie goes with you, so that is what I love,” he told a gathering by the Somali Professional Network at the Somali Social & Cultural Club in Ajman during his stay in the UAE.
“I have heard so many different perspectives of how people interpreted the ending of the movie. Each person interpreted through their own life experiences and I felt that was powerful.
“I wanted the audience to decide for themselves.”
It was a sudden death in Ahmed’s real life that inspired the fictional story and he built the plot around five gravediggers he saw outside the hospital.
“Everything I have written is inspired by conversations I have had with my family members, colleagues and friends,” Ahmed tells The National.
“In Africa, once you die, you are buried within a couple of hours, as quickly as possible and gravediggers would do the job quickly.”
Once he had his story, he set about finding a cast. He’d worked with Abdi before on a short film, while Warsame, a Somali-Canadian model, had never had an acting role before, but Ahmed knew he’d found his Nasra after seeing a poster of her. “I said this is her.
“Luckily she fell in love with the script and agreed to do it.”
Ahmed then shot the film in Djibouti in 2019, but the release was delayed until last year because of Covid-19 disruptions.
“In Djibouti, we found everything we needed in the script. The landscape, the desert, the beach, everything."
Now, he’s turned his attention to his next project. He’s busy writing his next feature film, which will be in Somali as well, and is working on another horror-thriller in post-production that will be ready soon.
“I want to make all my films in Africa.”
Ahmed was born in Somalia and moved to Finland at the age of 16. He didn’t go to film school but discovered his love for the industry at a very young age. “I thought this is exactly what I want to do and to really tell stories and turn them into visuals.”
His friends and family weren't supportive of his career choice at first. “[My mother] wanted me to be a doctor or lawyer or something safe. And to be the only Somali filmmaker in Finland, she said ‘it is very difficult and you may not make it’.
“But once I invited her to the premiere of my first film and she saw hundreds of people showing up to watch it, that is when she came to terms with it and said ‘I will leave you alone’.”
Since then, his mother has been his biggest fan and now goes with him to festivals.
His mission is to create stories that would make Somalis proud.
“I wanted to leave a legacy to Somali people,” he says. “So I decided I want this film to be in full Somali, shot in Somalia with a Somali cast.
“Every western film that has been about us is related to pirates, warlords and very stereotypical. I said that is not the world I grew up in.
“I am not a pirate, I couldn’t relate to those movies. We are so much more than that.
“We are a nation of storytellers and poets. And I grew up with telling and sharing stories.”
Timeline
1947
Ferrari’s road-car company is formed and its first badged car, the 125 S, rolls off the assembly line
1962
250 GTO is unveiled
1969
Fiat becomes a Ferrari shareholder, acquiring 50 per cent of the company
1972
The Fiorano circuit, Ferrari’s racetrack for development and testing, opens
1976
First automatic Ferrari, the 400 Automatic, is made
1987
F40 launched
1988
Enzo Ferrari dies; Fiat expands its stake in the company to 90 per cent
2002
The Enzo model is announced
2010
Ferrari World opens in Abu Dhabi
2011
First four-wheel drive Ferrari, the FF, is unveiled
2013
LaFerrari, the first Ferrari hybrid, arrives
2014
Fiat Chrysler announces the split of Ferrari from the parent company
2015
Ferrari launches on Wall Street
2017
812 Superfast unveiled; Ferrari celebrates its 70th anniversary
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
The fake news generation
288,000 – the number of posts reported as hate speech that were deleted by Facebook globally each month in May and June this year
11% – the number of Americans who said they trusted the news they read on Snapchat as of June 2017, according to Statista. Over a quarter stated that they ‘rarely trusted’ the news they read on social media in general
31% - the number of young people in the US aged between 10 and 18 who said they had shared a news story online in the last six months that they later found out was wrong or inaccurate
63% - percentage of Arab nationals who said they get their news from social media every single day.
Tell-tale signs of burnout
- loss of confidence and appetite
- irritability and emotional outbursts
- sadness
- persistent physical ailments such as headaches, frequent infections and fatigue
- substance abuse, such as smoking or drinking more
- impaired judgement
- excessive and continuous worrying
- irregular sleep patterns
Tips to help overcome burnout
Acknowledge how you are feeling by listening to your warning signs. Set boundaries and learn to say ‘no’
Do activities that you want to do as well as things you have to do
Undertake at least 30 minutes of exercise per day. It releases an abundance of feel-good hormones
Find your form of relaxation and make time for it each day e.g. soothing music, reading or mindful meditation
Sleep and wake at the same time every day, even if your sleep pattern was disrupted. Without enough sleep condition such as stress, anxiety and depression can thrive.
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
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Price: From Dh650,000
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
Naga
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The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The%20specs
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How do Sim card scams work?
Sim swap frauds are a form of identity theft.
They involve criminals conning mobile phone operators into issuing them with replacement Sim cards by claiming to be the victim, often pretending their phone has been lost or stolen in order to secure a new Sim.
They use the victim's personal details - obtained through criminal methods - to convince such companies of their identity.
The criminal can then access any online service that requires security codes to be sent to a user's mobile phone, such as banking services.
Company profile
Company name: Nestrom
Started: 2017
Co-founders: Yousef Wadi, Kanaan Manasrah and Shadi Shalabi
Based: Jordan
Sector: Technology
Initial investment: Close to $100,000
Investors: Propeller, 500 Startups, Wamda Capital, Agrimatico, Techstars and some angel investors
