You Will Die at Twenty

Shortly after Muzamil is born into a small Sudanese village, his mother receives a curse: her son will die before he reaches the age of twenty. And so Muzamil is raised by an over-protective mother who has started mourning him already, and the nickname «Son of Death» doesn't exactly make his life any easier. He does not attend school, because what is the point of learning stuff that you will never get to use.

You Will Die at Twenty is an imaginative portrait of a small town where life is guided by political and religious doctrines as well as by superstition that pacifies its inhabitants. Amjad Abu Alala's debut feature, which has been very well received at festivals such as Venice and Toronto, is a charming tale about growing up with dead lurking around the next corner.

Amjad Abu Alala is a Sudanese filmmaker. He studied Media Science at the United Arab Emirates University and has previously directed several short films. You Will Die At Twenty is his first feature film. An eager advocate for film culture in his home country, Alala is also programme director for a film festival, and a representative for Sudan at the Arab Film Institute.

This film is supported by Sørfond+, a film fund that is made possible with support from Creative Europe MEDIA programme of the European Union and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Norway.