Cinema Releases - You Will Die at Twenty

You Will Die at Twenty
November 12 2021

Based on Sudanese writer Hammour Ziada’s short story, Sleeping at the Foot of the Mountain, You Will Die at Twenty follows the life of Muzamil (Mustafa Shehata) from birth until his 20th birthday. Muzamil’s religious Sufi village lies between the Blue and White Nile in Al Jazira state, Sudan, and at the boy’s baptism ceremony, a sheik prophesizes that Muzamil will meet an early death at the age of twenty. Beholden to the grim fate, his mother, Sakina (Islam Mubarak), becomes overprotective and forbids his education or travelling, and his despairing father, Alnoor (Talal Afifi), leaves home for many years. The villagers taunt Muzamil, referring to him as “son of death”, and he becomes increasingly isolated, with only the opportunity to study the Koran. The quality of his life changes when he meets Suliman (Mahmoud Elsaraj), a Sudanese cinematographer, who imparts his passion for cinema and existential ideas with the curious teenager. A conflict grows within Muzamil between his traditional values and newfound modern aspirations. Will he have the time to act out his desires?


Winner – Best Debut Film – Venice Film Festival 2019
Winner – Best First Film, Best Screenplay, FIPRESCI Award - Carthage Film Festival 2019
Winner – Hamburg Producers Award – Hamburg Film Festival
Winner – Best Film – El Gouna Film Festival 2019

105 min/Sudan/France/Egypt/Germany/Norway/Qatar/Arabic with English subtitles/2019/Cert. 12A

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