Sudanese filmmakers shine light on war’s ‘silent problems’
Sudanese directors and actors were in Egypt this week hoping to use cinema to shine a light on the war devastating their country and the world’s indifference.
Fighting broke out in mid-April last year between Sudan’s regular army, headed by the country’s de facto leader Abdel Fattah alBurhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
The war has killed thousands of people and forced millions to flee their homes.
This desperation was highlighted at the Aswan International Women Film Festival through five Sudanese short films.
“We must speak about ourselves and our silent problems, even through a simple artistic production,” Sudanese actress and human rights activist Eiman Yousif said.
“Now there is a certain degree of freedom that was not present before,” she said of the prodemocracy protests that ended autocratic president Omar alBashir 30-year iron- fisted rule.
Bashir’s ouster ushered in a civilian-led transition that saw an outpouring of hope among the
Sudanese people, but it came to an end amid the power struggle between the rival generals.
Sudanese filmmakers and actors say they are determined to restore that hope.
Among the short films shown at Aswan was director Razan Mohammed’s A Brick for Them, which recounts the fate of women displaced to a refugee camp in 2003 during the war in Sudan’s Darfur region.
Another movie, Women of War from director Algaddal Hassan, reflected on the impact of conflict on the women of the Blue Nile state in southern Sudan.
In a Sudan hungry for change, a new cinema style has emerged, fed by the energy of the revolution that ousted Bashir.
After the dictator’s overthrow in 2019, director Amjad Abu Alala’s film You Will Die at 20 became the first Sudanese movie selected for the Oscars and at the Venice Film Festival, where it received the Lions of the Future award for best first feature film.
And even if cinemas are now rare in Sudan, Yousif believes that “all you need is a projector and a white wall to show people films”.
“The most important thing is to watch.”