![\"Yemeni](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/director.jpg\")
\u201cWhen war ends, normal life doesn\u2019t return back easily, and sometimes some small dreams become almost impossible to realize,\u201d producer Mohsen Alkhalifi said before the screening.<\/p>\n
The depth of the tragedies the couple faces reveals where the movie\u2019s strength lies \u2014 in its humorous reaction to calamity. As things get worse and worse for the characters, the dramatic and often comedic smaller roles get to make fun of their dire straits. The movie hits high and low moments with sincerity as characters choose to love, live and thrive despite the effects of Yemen\u2019s\u00a0 ongoing civil war.<\/p>\n
The script itself is nearly outshone by the true tale of how the movie was made. Filmed in just 30 days in the streets of Aden, Yemen, the filmmakers were warned they could be attacked as rumors of terrorists and militants still swirled three years after the internationally-recognized government led by President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, who was elected in 2012, retook the city from Houthi rebels, making it Yemen\u2019s temporary capital. However, director Amr Gamal said the city came together to help them film.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were afraid actually because it was the first big production since the war. We were afraid for three years; we didn\u2019t do anything,\u201d Gamal said. \u201cWe said, \u2018Are you willing to come shoot the movie?\u2019 And all of them said, \u2018For three years, we are sitting in our homes without doing anything. It\u2019s killing us.\u2019 So even if something happens, it\u2019s better to die while you are doing something good, something you love.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then was the surprise \u2014 because the whole city helped us. Everybody opened [their] houses. [In] all the houses were people saying, \u2018Come on, film the movie inside this house.\u2019 In the neighborhoods, everybody says \u2018welcome.\u2019 It was the nostalgia of Aden in the \u201980s and \u201970s and \u201960s when the cinema was all over the city, so people wanted this to come back again. That\u2019s why the whole city helped us and no one stopped us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 48 local actors in the film were divided between two generations. The younger group applied through Facebook and if they had any experience at all, it was in plays. Many of the older actors who played family members in the movie had actually studied acting, oftentimes in Russia, when they were younger. However, they had not had the opportunity to use those skills in many years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe old actors were just very happy to do even small roles because in the last 30 years, no one allowed them to do any acting because of some problems inside the country,\u201d Gamal said.<\/p>\n
The final scene shows a crowd gathered to watch the couple\u2019s nuptials amid the rubble of buildings destroyed in the war. Gamal said people in the area initially told them to film elsewhere, out of respect for the many dead souls nearby killed in the conflict. He convinced them to let him go forward by explaining the movie is about new life after tragedy.<\/p>\n
The ultimate message of the movie came in that final dance at the wedding, with the song played over loud speakers urging those gathered to \u201cchill out, laugh at your misery, and live.\u201d<\/p>\n
The film kicked off this year\u2019s annual Arab Film Festival, which is meant to enhance understanding of the Arab world. The festival has grown in the past years, with the eighth annual film festival showcasing 10 screenings at two venues \u2014 the Museum of Photographic Arts and AMC Mission Valley 20. In a statement, Karama president Larry Christian, who leads the local nonprofit group sponsoring the event, said, \u201cWe try to show the breadth and diversity of the region while not shying away from the conflicts and tragedies that affected more and more people.\u201d<\/p>\n
The breadth of the characters is also what makes \u201c10 Days Before the Wedding\u201d so effective. As in life, the film is not all tragedy or all comedy; each character experiences a wide range of pain, happiness, excitement, and frustration \u2014 all against a backdrop of a city still gutted by years of airstrikes.<\/p>\n