The Gravedigger’s Wife

‘I am 45 years old. I hunt for dead bodies to be able to live. I have a son for whom I cannot be an example. My wife’s health deteriorates. My family hates me most of all. With all those problems, I try to stay sane,’ Guled says, shaking his head.

The gravedigger (Finnish-Somalian Omar Abdi) and his lover Nasra (Canadian-Somalian model Yasmin Warsame) live with their son Mahad at the edge of Djibouti, the capital of the eponymous African country. Every day, Guled swings his shovel over his shoulder and waits at the hospital gates until somebody dies: this is how he makes a living.

An illness threatens his fragile happiness. If he cannot come up with the money for a kidney transplant soon, his Nasra will die. But the surgery costs as much as he makes in a whole year. He has no other choice but to return to his hometown and ask his family for help, although he promised Nasra never to do that.

‘The Gravedigger’s Wife’ is a film about sacrifice. Guled waits for hours to land a small job, walks around for days on a single slipper and for weeks, he tries gathering money for Nasra’s surgery. But it is more than a devastating story. It is a pure and poetic tale, a loving, tender portrait. Whoever watches closely, will not only see the vast landscapes of Djibouti, but also the hidden gems and stolen moments.