A New Day in Old Sana'a (2005)

Director:

Bader Ben Hirsi

Writer:

Bader Ben Hirsi (writer)

Release Date:

10 November 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

In the ancient city of Sana'a, true love is eternal

Plot:

A young photographer, Tariq, must choose between his love and his duty of this aristocratic family. He can either run away with his lover, an orphan from the lower class, or go through with his arranged marriage to the daughter of a judge.

Plot Keywords:

Photographer | Orphan | Yemen | Veil | Gypsy

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Nabil Saber	...	Tariq
Dania Hammoud	...	Ines
Paolo Romano	...	Federico
Sahar Alasbahi	...	Amal
Redha Khoder	...	Bilquis
Amal Ismail	...	Hesiba
Tawquir Iskandar	...	Ravi
Najla Atef	...	Gheda
Yehia Ibrahim	...	The Chief of Police
Fawziya Al Asbahi	...	Noor / Hajja
Faten Abdoub Rebic Al-Nabhani	...	Maya
Ghaima Saleh	...	Amani
Mona Alasbahi	...	Khadija
Yemen Abdullah	...	Fathoum
Ousama Alhadi	...	Yaseen
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bader Ben Hirsi	...	Dhinni
Sally El Hosaini	...	Wedding Guest (uncredited)

Directed by
Bader Ben Hirsi

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Bader Ben Hirsi		writer

Produced by
Abbs Abdali	....	producer (as Ahmed Al Abdali)
Sarah Kitty Campbell	....	line producer

Original Music by
Abbs Abdali		(as Ahmed Al Abdali)

Cinematography by
Muriel Aboulrouss

Film Editing by
Andrew Lloyd		(as Andy Lloyd)

Casting by
Polly Hootkins

Art Direction by
Tim Keates

Production Management
Will Scarnell	....	production manager

Sound Department
Lee Grainge	....	sound recordist
James Starnes	....	sound mixer

Visual Effects by
Justin Cornish	....	visual effects supervisor
Brooke Lyndon-Stanford	....	visual effects supervisor

Camera and Electrical Department
Gus Khazaka	....	key grip

Other crew
Adil Abdelwahab	....	location manager
Remy Bertrand	....	acting coach
Sally El Hosaini	....	production coordinator

Production Companies

• Felix Films Entertainment
• Yemen Media Centre

Distributors

• Arab Film Distribution (2006) (USA) (all media)

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

UK | Yemen

Language:

Arabic | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

San'a, Yemen

Company:

Felix Films Entertainment

Trivia:

Casting the lead actress proved very difficult as most Yemeni women worried that appearing in a film would hurt their prospects of marriage. A Lebanese actress was cast.

Yemen's first and last film

I recently saw this at the 2007 Palm Springs International Film Festival but was not impressed with this film being billed as the first feature film shot in Yemen. The old capital city of Yemen is Sana'a and I would expect to see more of the old historic city from this film's director Bader Ben Hirsi who previously shot a documentary about Yemen. It would have been more beneficial getting the viewer of this film more into the film by giving us more of Sana'a itself. We don't know much or anything about this setting except for the corny English voice over and the panoramic sweep of the city that sets the film up. With it's 1950's type travelogue opening I thought maybe this was going to be a tongue-in-cheek comedy. Actually there are a few well-crafted comedic moments but the plot is pretty week with no subplots to the storyline. No great acting here either as none of these actors are actors and a drama/acting coach had to be brought in to work with the cast for five months before they started shooting the film. There are a lot of women in the cast but most of their screen time is spent behind a veil and the face is so important in conveying emotion on screen that it just doesn't work. This is the story of a son of a diplomat who works as an aide to an English photographer and is engaged to the daughter of a prominent judge but is sidetracked in love by his infatuation and ultimate love for a woman of a lower class stature. The film's title comes from the weak ending. Due to the hassles the filmmakers had to endure with the government and the Ministry of Culture it doesn't look like many more fictional feature films will be coming out of Yemen anytime soon. Possibly an all Yemeni produced film eventually but not with another country like the UK involved. I would give this a 5.0 out of 10.