A New Day in Old Sana'a (2005)

No Description Available.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: UN
Release Date: 6-NOV-2007
Media Type: DVD Product Description

Good start but dim light when it gets to women!!

As the first Yemeni movie, it was great but i was frustrated many times when i wanted to see how the dress of the bride looks like or how the women are actually dressed in the wedding.

I hope more of this production would be encouraged in the future.
January 18, 2008

Definitely charming, magically captivating and an extremely touching movie

A daunting task with a haunting ending - that is the story behind the first Yemeni movie ever made: "A New Day in Old Sana'a". The director, Bader Ben Hirsi, faced numerous challenges such as financial limitations, and a lot more which crippled his beloved project, luckily, the director's vision persevered and this beautiful movie was created.

"A New Day in Old Sana'a" is a romantic comedy/drama and it revolves around a wealthy Yemeni groom who falls in love with a woman he mistakenly thinks is his aristocratic bride. In a strange twist of events, she turns out to be a poor woman of a humble background, and the groom faces the conflict between his heart and jeopardizing his family's honor if they dishonored the marriage commitment to his real bride's family (a very serious matter in Yemen). Not only did the director communicate with exotic and meaningful imagery, set in the enchanting old city of Sana'a, (which was built before the 11th century and one of the World Heritage sites recognized by UNESCO) but he also skillfully displayed the characters' warmth, wit and exposed their vulnerabilities, adding to the spellbinding nature of this movie, which eventually leads to a somewhat unrelenting ending. When you watch this movie, be prepared to laugh, to be emotionally moved, visually mesmerized and ready to go on a trip to a unique place that do exist in the real world but that is occupied with too familiar conflicts.

As with any project that attempts to introduce new and unfamiliar ideas, one could expect resistance. But the degree to which it crippled this project almost drove Hirsi to give up on it. In addition to the normal pressures, Hirsi felt the overwhelming responsibility of knowing that his movie could either open the door for more Yemeni movies or permanently close it. Even after completing it, there was the difficulty in distributing the movie internationally. Some of the distributors were disappointed because the movie didn't fit their notion of what an Arabic movie should be about, as this movie was about a love story, which didn't fit the distributors' stereotypical mold.

All the media coverage about this movie was more than encouraging and it was notably received by both audiences and critics, despite the fact that it was not widely released theatrically. The movie was previewed at several international film festivals including Cannes Film Festival and it won the Best Arab Film Award at the 2005 Cairo International Film Festival.
October 3, 2007

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