The Burdened(HKAFF2023)

Amnesty International Film Prize, Berlin International Film Festival
Special Jury Prize, Taipei Film Festival

In the Yemeni city of Aden, political turmoil has created an economic crisis that pushed many middle-class families into poverty. Ahmed’s family is one such family. When his wife Isra’a is accidentally pregnant with their fourth child, they both decide that the pregnancy must be terminated. However, finding a doctor to perform the procedure is nearly impossible in Yemen’s conservative society. The first Yemeni film screened at the Berlin International Film Festival, this fact-based domestic drama is a sobering, and rarely-seen, glimpse into the hardships of ordinary Yemeni people.