The Burdened

This film will be screened on Sunday, 14 September 2025 at 7:00 pm.

Directed by Amr Gamal | Yemen/ Sudan/ Saudi Arabia | 2023 | 91 min | In Arabic with English Subtitles

Aden, Yemen, 2019: Civil war has been raging for five long years. Isra’a and Ahmed struggle daily to provide for their children - putting food on the table, dealing with power outages and checkpoints, and finding gasoline for their van. After both parents lose their jobs due to the country's economic crisis, they discover they are expecting a fourth child. The news pushes them to consider abortion, despite their community’s conservative stance. But money soon proves to be the least of their worries, as the state’s bureaucratic labyrinth and the country’s strict social mores drive the family to the brink. The Burdened has won over 16 awards at major festivals worldwide, including the Amnesty International Film Prize at the Berlinale, a Gold Hugo at Chicago, two Jury Prizes at Valencia, a Special Jury Prize at Taipei, and top awards at both Oran and Malmö.

About the director

Amr Gamal is a Yemeni film and theatre director, producer, and writer based in Aden. In 2005, he founded the Khaleej Aden Theater Troupe to revive commercial theater in Yemen after a long hiatus following the 1994 civil war. In 2018, he directed his first feature film, 10 DAYS BEFORE THE WEDDING, which was a major success in Yemen and became the country's official submission for the Best International Feature Film category at the 91st Academy Awards. His second film, THE BURDENED, made history as the first Yemeni film to be screened at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Attention!

Please note that our library has limited seats and we work on a first-come, first-served basis. Our doors open at 6:30 PM and the screening starts at 7:00 PM or earlier in case the space reaches its full capacity. Thank you for understanding and see you on Sunday!

!برجاء الانتباه

تفتح الأبواب الساعة ٦:٣٠ مساء ويبدأ العرض الساعة ٧:٠٠ مساء. في انتظاركم يوم الأحد القادم