Pune: “In a war-ridden country, carrying out even the most normal thing like a wedding, is a huge task. In Yemen, where the war has destroyed almost everything, finding their way back to peace is very difficult,” said Amr Gamal, a young filmmaker from Yemen.
Gamal’s film ‘10 Days Before Wedding’ is being screened at the 17th Pune International Film Festival (PIFF), and the director was speaking with Samar Nakhate of Selection Committee during an interaction at the PIFF Forum.
The film talks about the hurdles that a young couple faces, 10 day before their wedding date. With a background of the aftermath of the 2015 Yemen war, the devastated city and disrupted lives of the inhabitant, the film has a much greater story to tell.
This is the first commercially released film in Yemen in at least five years. While films were being made earlier, they were only meant for the platform of television, and not released for public viewing. The filmmaker said that in a country like this, making a film was trying to bring a change in the normally gloomy and destructed Aden.
While talking about the challenges of shooting, he added, “This is the first film to have been shot on the streets of Aden. When I asked my crew, would they be willing to take the risk of shooting on roads, they answered that people are anyway dying on road. Let us take the risk. This really left me overwhelmed.”
Gamar also said that the people of the city too were very supportive. “People opened their homes to us, gave us water and juice, as we were shooting in the hot sun. It was pleasant to see the people appreciating our efforts,” he said.
“The movie is made on a budget of $30,000. There is no theatre, no television in Aden, since three years because of the war. Hence, the cast said yes to do the movie even they knew that it is going to be made on a very small budget,” Gamal said.
