9 Sudanese Films to Watch
In a recent episode of Kawalis — afikra’s Movie Night podcast — we interviewed Rafa Renas and Brahim "Snoopy" Ahmad, the founders of Aflam Sudan, a festival that celebrates Sudanese cinema. They gave us their favorite Sudanese film recommendations and we’ve combined them with some suggestions for our community to build this growing list of must watch Sudanese movies.
The Station (Al Mahatta)
via Berlinale
“Sudan, in the late 1980s. People cross the desert on foot or cover long distances by car and truck. In Al Mahatta, Eltayeb Mahdi shows encounters at one of the large crossroads between the capital Khartoum in the centre of the country and Bur Sudan on the Red Sea. The filmmaker studied in Cairo and became part of the Sudanese Film Group (SFG), which was founded in April 1989 with the intention of telling stories about their country and confronting young people with the realities of their homeland. Identity formation – not through the detour of referencing Europe or America, but with a view to the situation in their own country. The Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art digitally restored seven works by these Sudanese filmmakers in 2018. Al Mahatta was one of them, having received a special mention from the Interfilm jury at the 35th West German Educational Film Festival in Oberhausen in 1989 and was subsequently awarded numerous prizes in Burkina Faso, Tunisia and Damascus among others.” (Via Berlinale)
A Camel
Via IDFA
“The short film Jamal (1981) by Ibrahim Shaddad, founding member of the Sudanese Film Group, is a report from the life of a camel, most of which plays out in a dreary, small room – a sesame mill.” (Via MUBI)
It Still Rotates
via Berlinale
“Suliman Elnour’s graduation film Wa lakin alardh tadur (1978) depicts everyday life at the time in a school in Yemen.” (via MUBI)
aKasha
via Deadline
“A Kasha is a universal offbeat love story set in a time of civil war - but the war is in Sudan and it is happening right now. We follow Adnan, an AK47-loving rebel, his long-suffering love interest, Lina, and the armydodging Absi, over a fateful 24 hours in a rebel-held area of Sudan.” (via IMDb)
Beats of the Antonov
Via Okay Africa
“Over two years, Sudanese filmmaker Hajooj Kuka lived alongside farmers, herders, and rebels displaced to the Blue Nile and Nuba Mountain regions, filming their lives within hillside hide-outs and refugee camps.” (Via Human Rights Watch Film Festival)
You Will Die at 20
Via Rotten Tomatoes
“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 twentieth 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?” (via Apple TV)
Journey to Kenya
Via Film Freeway
“Inspired by the soul of the Sudanese revolution a Sudanese Jujitsu team with no fund provided tried to travel by an old van to participate in a Jujitsu championship in Nairobi, willing to cross three countries with no enough money , food or water just the revolutionary spirit and their will to dedicate something the Martyr's of the Sudanese revolution of 2019.” (Via Film Freeway)
Talking About Trees
Via Shangols
“Ibrahim, Manar, Suleiman and Altayeb, four veteran members of the Sudanese Film Club, embark on a journey in which they aim to revive and old cinema to bring cinemagoing culture back to their country. In the crisis-ridden country, the four friends encounter insurmountable resistance.” (via MUBI). Read our Daftar article about Talking About Trees.
Goodbye Julia
via Variety
“Just before the secession of South Sudan, a married former singer from the north seeks redemption for causing the death of a southern man by hiring his oblivious wife as her maid.” (via IMDb). Watch our Kawalis interview with Mohamed Kordofani, the director of Goodbye Julia.