10 Days Before the Wedding

10 Days Before the Wedding is a 2018 Yemeni romantic comedy film directed by Amr Gamal. It was Yemen's official submission for the 91st Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.[1]

10 Days Before the Wedding
Directed byAmr Gamal
Screenplay byAmr Gamal
Mazen Refa'at
Produced byMohsen Alkhalifi
Amr Gamal
CinematographyAimen Almekhlafi
Edited byAimen Almekhlafi
Music bySalem Fadaq
Production
company
Adenium Production
Release date
  • 21 August 2018 (2018-08-21)
Aden
Running time
120 minutes
CountryYemen
LanguageArabic

The film premiered in Aden City on August 21, 2018, becoming the first film to be commercially released in Yemen in four decades.[2]

10 Days Before The Wedding[3] was a big commercial success in Yemen and received widespread critical acclaim. It was screened at a number of film festivals such as the Jaipur International Film Festival, Pune International Film Festival,[4] Zanzibar International Film Festival,[5] San Diego Arab Film Festival,[6] Casablanca Arab Film Festival,[7] and Aswan International Women's Film Festival.[8]

Plot

A number of obstacles stand in the way of a young Yemeni couple, as only 10 days are left before their wedding. Each obstacle is, in one way or another, caused by the aftermath of the 2015 war in Yemen.[9]

Rasha and Ma'moon, a young Yemeni couple,[10] were set to get married, but the war of 2015 stood in the way of their wedding.[11] After so much suffering, they tried the best they could to make it happen in 2018. Yet again, obstacles appear, but this time it's not the war; it's the aftermath.[12]

Starting from searching for an apartment at a reasonable price, having to deal with war dealers who control the city, clashing with armed militias, and facing the suffocating economic crisis in Yemen,[13] the couple races against time to make sure that the wedding,[14] which is scheduled to take place in 10 days, takes place on time.[15]

Cast
  • Sali Hamada as Rasha
  • Khaled Hamdan as Ma'amon
  • Mh'd Nagi Break as Salim
  • Qassem Rashad as Mushtaq
  • Bakkar Basaraheel as Waleed
  • Abeer AbdulKareem as Samar

Production

In the spring of 2018, Director Amr Gamal began the production of his first feature film, 10 Days Before the Wedding. The film premiered in Aden during the summer of the same year, becoming the first film to be commercially released in Yemen in four decades.[16]

As a result of the destruction of the infrastructure in Aden due to successive wars and the deterioration of cinemas due to negligence,[17] the producers had no choice but to rent two wedding halls to screen the movie inside.[18]

The film was shot on a budget of $33,000. It was sponsored by Yemeni businessmen in return for playing their advertisements on the screen before the beginning of the film.

The film was shot entirely in Aden City, and filming lasted only one month.[19]

Release

The premiere of the film took place in Aden City on August 21, 2018.[20] The film achieved great commercial success, as the screenings lasted for more than eight months. The film also participated in a number of international and Arab festivals and won a number of awards.[21][22]

All attempts by the production team to screen the film in other Yemeni cities outside Aden failed. In Taiz City, extremists opposed the idea of screening the film in Taiz through mosque pulpits and threatened the production team. Armed extremists also burned posters of the film in the streets of the city.[23][24]

All attempts to show the film in Hadhramaut and Sana'a also failed.[25][26][27]

The film opened commercially in the United Arab Emirates[28] on March 7, 2019.[29]

Later, the film became Yemen's official submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film[30] 2019.[31][32]

Reception

The film achieved great commercial success in Aden City, as the screenings lasted for more than eight months and 70,000 tickets were Sold.

The film received great critical acclaim, as all Yemeni newspapers wrote about it, and many local and international television channels were keen to cover the screenings, which were described at the time as unexpected and surprising.[33]

Awards and nominations
Year Award CategoryNominee(s) ResultRef.
2019 Jaipur International Film Festival Best Film 10 Days Before The Wedding Nominated [34]
2019 Jaipur International Film Festival Best Makeup and Hairstyle 10 Days Before The Wedding Won [34]
2019 Jaipur International Film Festival Best Costume Design 10 Days Before The Wedding Won [34]
2019 Aswan International Women's Film Festival Best Film 10 Days Before The Wedding Nominated [34]
2019 Aswan International Women's Film Festival Best Film (Special Jury Prize) 10 Days Before The Wedding Won [34]
2019 San Diego Arab Film Festival Best Film (Audience Award) 10 Days Before The Wedding Won [34]
2019 Amman Arab Film Festival Best Film (Audience Award) 10 Days Before The Wedding Won [34]
2019 Casablanca Arab Film Festival Best Film 10 Days Before The Wedding Nominated [34]
2019 Casablanca Arab Film Festival Best Writing 10 Days Before The Wedding Won [34]
2019 Zanzibar International Film Festival Best Film 10 Days Before The Wedding Nominated [34]

See also

References
  1. Kilday, Gregg (8 October 2018). "Oscars: 87 Countries Submit Films in Foreign-Language Category". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  2. "87 Countries In Competition for 2018 Foreign Language Film Oscar". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  3. جدلية, Jadaliyya-. "An Interview with Aden-Based Director Amr Gamal". Jadaliyya - جدلية. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  4. "Pune International Film Festival". www.piffindia.com. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  5. "Zanzibar International Film Festival – ZIFF – Zanzibar International Film Festival". Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  6. Hamblin, Abby (9 April 2019). "From the San Diego Arab Film Festival, a Yemeni director tells his story". San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  7. Festival, Casablanca Arab Film (3 November 2019). "10 days before the wedding (2018) – Casablanca Arab Film Festival". Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  8. Newbould, Chris (10 October 2018). "Yemeni drama '10 Days Before the Wedding' completes Arab Oscars list". The National. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  9. Gamal, Amr. "Regard d'Amr Gamal, un cinéaste au Yémen". www.areion24.news (in French). Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  10. "النشرة الثقافية - "10 أيام قبل الزفة": سخرية اليمن من الحرب". مونت كارلو الدولية / MCD (in Arabic). 23 August 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  11. magazine, Le Point (14 September 2018). "Au Yémen, le cinéma veut prendre sa revanche sur la guerre". Le Point (in French). Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  12. ""10 أيام قبل الزفة".. عرس سينمائي بهيج تحت أنقاض عدَن". doc.aljazeera.net (in Arabic). Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  13. "في حوار مع أخبار الأمم المتحدة: مخرج فيلم "10 أيام قبل الزفة" يكسر قيود الحرب على اليمن | أخبار الأمم المتحدة". news.un.org (in Arabic). 2 November 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  14. "الفيلم اليمني "10 أيام قبل الزفة" يتجاوز ظروف الحرب ويواصل حصد الجوائز". اندبندنت عربية (in Arabic). 28 October 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  15. "Yemen—10 Days Before the Wedding". Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  16. "MEI Film Series: 10 Days Before The Wedding (Yemen, 2018) Screening and Discussion". www.hks.harvard.edu. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  17. Etcohod, 10 Days Before The Wedding 2018 [ Yemini Movie] [ Etcohod] (in Arabic), retrieved 9 September 2023
  18. "Yemeni film takes center stage at San Diego Arab Film Fest". SDNews.com. 19 April 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  19. CORRESPONDENT, ST (16 January 2019). "Yemeni film may provide some hope and happiness". The Bridge Chronicle. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  20. الحميري, عبدالرحمن (26 March 2019). "زهرة الخليج - (10 أيام قبل الزفّة) فيلمٌ يُزهر من تحت الأنقاض!". زهرة الخليج (in Arabic). Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  21. "Love and War in Yemen, a film screening: "10 Days Before the Wedding" | Yale MacMillan Center Council on Middle East Studies". cmes.macmillan.yale.edu. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  22. "Middle East Film Festival, March 25-29, 2019 | The Middle East Center at Penn". www.sas.upenn.edu. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  23. Hazar.Harrak. ""10 أيام قبل الزفة"... انطلاق صناعة السينما في اليمن". www.alaraby.co.uk/ (in Arabic). Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  24. "10 Days Before the Wedding". BAM.org. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  25. "Middle East Film Festival, March 25-29, 2019 | The Middle East Center at Penn". www.sas.upenn.edu. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  26. "Eventful: Film: "10 Days Before the Wedding"". Eventful. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  27. "Film Screening "10 Days Before the Wedding"". Gulf International Forum. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  28. الاتحاد, صحيفة (5 March 2019). ""10 أيام قبل الزفة".. قصة حب في زمن الحرب". صحيفة الاتحاد (in Arabic). Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  29. "Middle East Film Festival, March 25-29, 2019 | The Middle East Center at Penn". www.sas.upenn.edu. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  30. Newbould, Chris (10 October 2018). "Yemeni drama '10 Days Before the Wedding' completes Arab Oscars list". The National. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  31. 10 Days Before the Wedding, retrieved 25 February 2020
  32. 10 DAYS BEFORE THE WEDDING - UAE Cinema Listings | Khaleej Times, retrieved 25 February 2020
  33. "BABYLON in Berlin - 10 Days Before the Wedding". babylonberlin.eu. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  34. "10 Days Before the Wedding". IMDb. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
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