This year’s winner of the Golden Stallion of Yennenga at FESPACO 2021 is the Somali movie The Gravedigger’s Wife by Somali-Finnish director Khadar Ahmed. It defeated 16 other movies to win the Golden Stallion of Yennenga.
The movie tells the story of a man, whose job is to wait outside hospitals to bury the dead, and what he has to do to save his sick wife. It is a beautiful movie, which tells the simple story of humanity and love, what we have to do for our loved ones. Set in Djibouti, the movie follows the struggles of Guled (Omar Abdi) as he tries to raise funds for his wife’s treatment who is dying of kidney failure.
The movie took a long time in the making, as director Khadar Ahmed wrote the story10 years ago, but wanted to direct it himself and so took time to learn how to direct movies. Aren’t we glad he was determined to tell the story himself? Well, the Golden Stallion of Yennenga is a tribute to his hard work and tells us to keep being engaged with our passion.
See the trailer on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=1dUpTHyoLnI&feature=emb_title
The second prize went to Haitian director Gessica Geneus for her film Freda, while the third prize went to Tunisian director Leyla Bouzid for A Tale of Love and Desire.
This year’s edition of the FESPACO did not disappoint, we loved it… and wish all the runners up the very best, and are proud for Khadar Ahmed with The Gravedigger’s Wife. I leave you here with the trailer. Enjoy!
