The Undertaker’s Wife: Somali Love Story Wins First African Film Award

A Somali film that explores what people will do for love won first prize at the prestigious Pan-African film festival in Burkina Faso.

The Gravedigger’s Wife, written and directed by the Finnish-Somali director Khadar Ahmed, beat the competition at Fespaco by another 16 films.

It focuses on Guled, whose job is to wait outside the hospital to bury the dead, and what he does to save his sick wife.

The award’s chief jury called it a bold film, reports Reuters.

“It’s a beautiful film that tells a story with humanity,” said Mauritanian director Abderrahmane Sissako.

“I am in awe. I am speechless. Words cannot express my gratitude and appreciation for this kind of love from the continent”, Ahmed wrote on Instagram.

A rare feature film in Somali, The Undertaker’s Wife is also Somalia’s first film in the Best International Feature Film category at the Oscars.

Set in Djibouti, it details the hardships faced by Guled, played by Omar Abdi, when he discovers he has to raise money to pay for his wife’s care.

Nasra, played by Yasmin Warsame, is dying of kidney failure.

Ironically, as a gravedigger, Guled waits for the death of others to make any money that could mean his wife survives.

Ahmed wanted to “tell this story with dignity, tenderness and compassion – all qualities I grew up with,” the director told The Guardian newspaper.

He was born in Somalia but moved to Finland as a teenager.

His film took 10 years to make. Ahmed wrote it ten years ago, but he was determined to direct it himself and therefore had to learn to be a director, reports the Guardian.

In addition to winning the prestigious award, known as the Yennenga Gold Stallion, he has also received $ 36,000 (£ 26,000) in cash prizes.

The Silver Stallion went to Haitian director Gessica Geneus for her film Freda. And the Bronze Stallion went to Tunisian director Leyla Bouzid for Tale of Love and Desire.

The awards were presented during the Fespaco closing ceremony in the capital of Burkinabe, Ouagadougou.

It was the 27th edition of the biennial one-week event, the continent’s largest film festival celebrating films largely produced in Africa by Africans.