A Magic Carpet Ride Back For A New Day In Old Yemen

Posted by Matthew Crouch at 17:34

This text was written with personal gratitude after having seen a remarkable film screened at the Festival du Film du Monde Arabe de Bruxelles here in Villette.

A New Day In Old Sanaa
A very short review
Director: Bader Ben-Hirsi. 2005 Feature length film, In Arabic and English with English subtitles (and some amusing Yemeni dialect thrown in for those in the know)

A magical movie about the only world heritage site that is a complete and functioning city. I was in Yemen in 2005 in the area of Sana'a the film was made in. Indeed Sana'a is exactly as it is seen in this film! A secret treasure for a fearless traveler! If you are interested in the places in the world the media ignores (or has an agenda against) then this movie is for you! A New Day in Old Sanaa will give you a glimpse not just into a nearly forgotten way of life still very much thriving in Yemen but the film also shows the very hidden (especially to males) world of women in Yemen. A uniquely Arabic story line reveals in this movie something Hollywood or even Bollywood can't grasp - the dignity of unknown places and a forgotten way of life seamlessly merged and existing with modernity. This is not a travel film but the film will take you on a magic carpet ride to an actual place that not many travelers find! A literal and thriving Shangri-la from the Lost Horizons of Arabia! See this movie and see if you aren't ready to find your own passage to Sana'a!

And how - "mahow" lol