See the brochure

The Grave Digger
A Film by
Khadar Ahmed
The Grave Digger
A Film by
Khadar Ahmed
Technical Information
Working Title: The Grave Digger
Director: Khadar Ahmed
Screenplay by: Khadar Ahmed
Nationality: Finnish
Genre: Drama
Length: 90 min
Shooting location: Djibouti
Khadar Ahmed
Production Company: Sons of Lumiere
Producer: Mete Sasioglu
Tel: +358407721667
E-mail: [email protected]
Address: Tehtaankatu 7
00140 Helsinki
Finland
Kartanonkaari 35 G 52
00410 Helsinki
Finland
E-mail: [email protected]
Tel: + 358 468 808 524 (Finland)
Tel: + 33 (0) 7 89 98 23 51 (France)
Director’s Biography and Filmography
­­­Festival de Cannes
Before becoming a self-learned filmmaker, Khadar Ahmed studied electrical engineering but quit it to
pursue his dream of filmmaking. Few years later, he won a local short screenplay competition organized
by the Finnish Film Foundation and Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE with his screenplay Citizens.
He later was among the six finalists of Shasha Grant, Abu Dhabi Film Commission’s 100 000 US$
international screenwriting competition with his screenplay The Grave Digger.
The Grave Digger, (unproduced screenplay, 90 min.)
3, rue Amélie, F-75007 Paris
Tel. 33 (0) 1 53 59 61 20
Fax 33 (0) 1 53 59 61 24
E-mail:
[email protected]
www.festival-cannes.org
– Second Prize Winner, 2014, African Film Commission’s 3rd Annual Storytelling Screenwriting Competition
– Finalist, Shasha Grant 2011, Abu Dhabi Film Commission’s International Screenplay Competition.
Citizens, 2008, 28 min.
– Prix Arte, 21st Premier Plans Festival, Angers, France, 2009
– The Quality Award by the Finnish Government
– Youth Jury Prize, Tampere International film festival, 2009
– Second Prize, Leopard of Tomorrow, Locarno Film Festival, 2008
– Grand Prize for best short film, Helsinki Short Film Festival, 2008
Since 2000, the Festival
Residence has provided each
year accommodation and support to twelve selected young
directors in order to help them
prepare their first or second feature film. A jury presided by a film
director sits twice a year, selecting these young filmmakers on
the basis of their short films, or
With the support of HP. Printed on an HP Indigo Digital Press.
even first feature film, and the
merits of their feature film project.
During their 4-and-a-half-month
stay in Paris, they work on the
writing of their feature film project, have meetings with professionals and try, with the support
of the Cannes Film Festival, to
bring their project to co-production status.
Synopsis
Statement of Intent
Set in Djibouti, Africa, The Grave Digger
tells a love story of a middle aged grave
digger, Yusuf, and his wife Halima who
suffers from a chronic kidney disease.
A few years ago, our family was struck
by a sudden death, and I was asked to
take care of the funeral arrangements.
It took me a week to get it done and
on the memorial day, my older brother
asked me if I knew how easy it was to
bury someone in Somalia? To which
I quickly replied “No”.
One day, a kidney is found but the
donor is asking 5000 US dollars for it.
That kind of money is not even something that Yusuf can earn in a million
years. The grave digger is facing a
hopeless situation: if Halima doesn’t
get the kidney, she will die. To save
his wife’s life, Yusuf and his runaway
12 years old son, Mahad have only two
weeks to find the money.
“It was extremely easy because there
were always a bunch of grave diggers
in front of the hospital who were ready
to bury the body within few hours”, he
said. “It was their job”.
As a kid who grew up in the suburbs
of Somalia / Ethiopia, I remembered all
those grave diggers I’d walk by every
morning in front of the hospital on my
way to school.
After that short conversation with my
brother, I was haunted by stories of
these grave diggers. The men that neither I nor anyone else paid attention to.
The men whose stories nobody knows.
I was provoked to sit down and share
the story of one of these grave diggers.
The Grave Digger story follows the journey of a struggling grave digger, Yusuf
and his family in Djibouti. It’s a universal
story about loving under impossible
conditions and making hard choices at
hard times, even though they may not
always be correct.
As a storyteller, I’m more intrigued to tell
the stories of these “underprivileged”
and “voiceless” everyday heroes whose
devotion and contribution to the society
are overlooked because they seem to
have less.
Synopsis
Note d’intention
The Grave Digger est une histoire
d’amour à Djibouti, en Afrique. Yusuf,
un fossoyeur d’âge moyen vit avec sa
femme Halima dans les bidonvilles de
la ville. Celle-ci souffre d’une maladie
rénale chronique, et réussit à trouver un
donneur de rein, mais elle devra pour
cela payer 5 000 dollars. Cette somme
ne représente même pas ce que Yusuf
peut gagner en un an. Si Halima n’obtient pas ce rein elle mourra. Afin de
sauver la vie de sa femme, Yusuf et son
fugueur de fils âgé de 12 ans Mahad,
ont seulement deux semaines pour
trouver l’argent.
Il y a quelques années, ma famille a
vécu la tragédie d’une mort subite et on
m’a demandé de m’occuper des funérailles. Il m’a fallu une semaine pour le
faire et le jour de la commémoration,
mon frère aîné m’a demandé si je
savais combien il était facile d’enterrer
quelqu’un en Somalie ? Ce à quoi j’ai
rapidement répondu : « Non ».
Après cette courte conversation avec
mon frère, j’étais hanté par les histoires
de ces fossoyeurs. Des hommes auxquels ni moi, ni personne n’ont porté
d’attention particulière. Des hommes
dont personne ne connait les histoires.
J’ai été incité à m’asseoir et à partager
une des histoires de ces fossoyeurs.
« C’était extrêmement facile car il y
avait toujours un groupe de fossoyeurs
en face de l’hôpital qui étaient prêts
à enterrer des corps en quelques
heures », at-il dit. « C’était leur travail ».
The Grave Digger suit le parcours d’un
fossoyeur qui se bat, Yusuf, et de sa
famille à Djibouti. C’est une histoire
universelle sur l’amour dans des conditions impossibles et les choix à faire
dans les moments difficiles, même s’ils
ne sont pas forcément corrects.
Enfant, j’ai grandi dans la banlieue de
Somalie / Éthiopie, je me souviens de
tous ces fossoyeurs que je croisais le
matin devant l’hôpital, en chemin pour
aller et revenir de l’école.
En tant que conteur, je suis intrigué par le
récit de ces héros de tous les jours « défavorisés » et « sans voix » dont le dévouement et la contribution à la société sont
négligés parce qu’ils semblent démunis.