Laureate of the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard Freedom Prize GOODBYE JULIA — Mohamed Kordofani’s debut Sudanese drama feature — is now poised to captivate audiences in competition at the highly anticipated BFI London Film Festival in a spectacular event that will unfold from the 4th to the 15th of October 2023.
GOODBYE JULIA — which will be competing for the festival’s Audience Award and a slew of other high-profile awards — will enthrall audiences in two remarkable screenings: The first scheduled for Saturday, October 14th at 5:10 pm at Curzon Soho 1, and the second on Sunday, October 15th in the same time slot at BFI NFT2.
In other news, the film will also be featuring in the Septimius Awards — which will be running from September 25th to the 26th — where it will be competing in numerous categories, including Best African Actress (which both Eiman Yousif and Siran Riak are in the running for), Best African Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Soundtrack.
According to its website, the “Septimius Awards is a prestigious award ceremony, with a strong emphasis on discovering and encouraging new independent talent, supporting visionary films, and bringing together all elements of film-making and storytelling.”
Previously, GOODBYE JULIA was featured at the Horizons Section of the 2023 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and enjoyed widespread popularity and packed screenings.
The film follows the story of Mona — a northern Sudanese retired singer in a tense marriage — who is wracked by guilt after covering up a murder. In an attempt to make amends, she takes in the deceased’s southern Sudanese widow, Julia, and her son, Daniel, into her home.
Unable to confess her transgressions to Julia, Mona decides to leave the past behind and adjust to a new status quo, unaware that the country’s turmoil may find its way into her home and put her face to face with her sins.
The film caught the attention of film critics and garnered rave reviews since its release, with Screen Daily praising the film saying: “Kordofani proves that it is possible to bear witness to history in a place rarely depicted on screen,” while Hollywood Reporter described the film as “an operatic drama that nimbly tackles the story of a fractured Sudan.”
GOODBYE JULIA stars Eiman Yousif, Siran Riak — the former Ms. South Sudan — Nazar Goma, and Ger Duany; is written and directed by Kordofani; and produced by Station Films’ acclaimed Sudanese filmmaker Amjad Abu Alala — the director of Sudan’s first-ever submission to the Academy Awards YOU WILL DIE AT TWENTY — in collaboration with producer Mohamed Al-Omda, who co-produced Yemen’s Berlin International Film Festival selection THE BURDENED.
A true example of Arab-European collaboration, the film is also co-produced by Baho Bakhsh and Safei Eldin Mahmoud (Red Star Films), Michael Henrichs (Die Gesellschaft), Khaled Awad and Mohamed Kordofani (Klozium Studios), Marc Irmer (Dolce Vita), Faisal Baltyuor (Cinewaves Films), Ali El-Arabi (Ambient Light), Adham El-Sherif (CULT), and Issraa Elkogali Häggström (RiverFlower). Additionally, MAD Solutions is handling the film’s worldwide sales.
When it was in the project phase, GOODBYE JULIA won MAD Solutions’ Grant Award at the CineGouna SpringBoard that was held at the fourth El Gouna Film Festival, Best Film Project in the Development Phase ($15,000), a certificate from the El Gouna Cinema Platform, a Mentorship Prize from the IEFTA, and the New Century Prize ($10,000).
It also won the Malmö Arab Film Festival’s award for Best Project In Development and received financial support from Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Fund, the Paris Region, ARRI, and Film und Medienstiftung NRW.
Kordofani is a Sudanese filmmaker whose short film NYERKUK won the Black Elephant Award for Best Sudanese Film, NAAS Award for Best Arab Film at the Carthage Film Festival, Jury Award at the Oran International Arab Film Festival, and Arnone-Belavite Pellegrini Award at the FCAAA in Milan.
His second short KEJERS PRISON was screened during the Sudanese revolution at the sit-in square in front of thousands of protesters, and his documentary A TOUR IN LOVE REPUBLIC was the first pro-revolution film to be broadcast on Sudan's national TV.
His last film was THIS IS SUDAN, which was commissioned by Sudan’s former prime minister Abdallah Hamdok to promote Sudan's potential for investment.