Documentary About Sudan Wins Award at GFF

Photo showing all the participants in the Final Cut Venice 2023
workshop
Photo showing all the participants in the Final Cut Venice 2023 workshop
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Documentary About Sudan Wins Award at GFF

Photo showing all the participants in the Final Cut Venice 2023
workshop
Photo showing all the participants in the Final Cut Venice 2023 workshop

The documentary “Sudan, When Poems Fall Apart” has won the GFF Award at the Final Cut Venice 2023, an initiative aimed at supporting films in post-production phase. This year’s edition of the initiative saw the participation of seven works from the Middle East and North Africa.

El Gouna Film Festival (GFF) described the winning documentary as an “extraordinary” project. “The documentary draws a deep picture of Sudan by seamlessly narrating the stories of four women: Shajan, Marmal, Maha, and Rafida. The documentary is a sincere love poem about Sudan. It uses the overlapping stories of the four women to recreate the image of an ongoing revolution,” GFF said in a statement on Tuesday.

The documentary is a French-Tunisian co-production, directed by Hind Meddeb who has an impressive work record including films like “Paris, Stalingrad”, and “Tunisian Clash”, which shed lights on the reality of rappers in Tunisia after the fall of Ben Ali’s regime. In appreciation of the project, GFF offers a money prize of $5,000 to support the post-production stages.

“We are delighted to screen and support the extraordinary project ‘Sudan, When Poems Fall Apart’ at the Final Cut Venice 2023. This award emphasizes the festival’s commitment to the creative voices in the Arabic cinema, and to building sustainable connections in the Arabic cinema industry,” said Intishal al-Timimi, GFF director. He also congratulated the talented teams behind the film project “She Was not Alone”, scheduled to participate in the festival next month.

Young Sudanese actor, Mustafa Shehata, said El Gouna Film Festival shed lights on the Sudanese cinema and celebrates it. “This interest manifested in the participation of the film ‘You Die at Twenty’ in the 2019 edition, during which it won the Golden Award for Best Feature Film. That edition also screened the film ‘Talk About Trees’ by director Suhaib Qasim al-Bari, which also won the Best Documentary Film Award,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Shehata, the lead actor in ‘You Will Die at Twenty’, said “the interest in Sudanese cinema in the upcoming edition of GFF means a lot to us in light of the war circumstances in our country,” especially since the Sudanese cinema had started to recover in the few past years. He also said ‘You Will Die at Twenty’ by director Amjad Abu al-Ala was a great comeback opportunity for the Sudanese cinema, along with ‘Tree Talk’ and ‘Offside Khartoum’ by Marwa Zein. This celebration from GFF reflects “the solidarity with the Sudanese cinema, which insists on surviving despite everything.”

The festival announced that the film project “She Was Not Alone” also won the GFF Award. It’s an Iraqi-Saudi-US co-production, directed by Hussein Al-Assadi, and produced by Ishtar Iraq Film Production. The film is a poetic contemplation of the life of a Bedouin woman named Fatima, who lives alone in the wetlands of Iraq with her beloved animals. The film explores the difficult choices that the character faces. It was selected to participate in the GFF post-production category, and compete for awards and grants provided by the festival and a number of influential partners in the film industry.



Saudi Film Forum: Cinema Beyond the Screen

The forum’s first session hosted Prince Turki Al-Faisal.
The forum’s first session hosted Prince Turki Al-Faisal.
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Saudi Film Forum: Cinema Beyond the Screen

The forum’s first session hosted Prince Turki Al-Faisal.
The forum’s first session hosted Prince Turki Al-Faisal.

“Where cinema transcends the screen,” marked the opening of the Saudi Film Forum, which began on Wednesday evening in Riyadh.
The event attracted a large audience of filmmakers from around the globe, including American actor and producer Will Smith, this year’s special guest.
During the opening, Minister of Culture Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan said : “Through the Saudi Film Forum, we are starting a new era that goes beyond creativity... toward a fully integrated film industry that connects us culturally and economically with the world.”
The first session featured Prince Turki Al-Faisal, Chairman of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, who spoke about the important role of films in bridging cultures.
He recalled how, nearly 50 years ago, the introduction of film on television helped Saudi society connect with the world and allowed others to understand Saudi culture.
Prince Turki Al-Faisal’s Experience
During the session, moderator Faisal Abbas, Editor-in-Chief of Arab News, asked Prince Turki, “If you had a magic wand to choose a film about the Kingdom to produce, what would it be?”
The prince replied : “That’s a tough question. From my experience in producing films, some have had a significant impact on how people view the Kingdom and Islam, as well as what Saudi Arabia represents.”
He recalled the first Saudi-funded film, made nearly 20 years ago about the Arab historian Ibn Battuta, which was similar to a documentary. He noted that another film about the Hajj was produced that same year, and both were shown worldwide.
“My favorite film is ‘Born a King,’ which I co-produced,” Prince Turki shared.
“It tells the story of King Faisal's first journey abroad at age 13, commissioned by King Abdulaziz. I believe it was one of the first narrative films shot in the Kingdom with Saudi actors,” he added.
On Arab cinema, he said : “Many Arab films I've seen tend to be quite gloomy in terms of visuals and storytelling, which makes me reluctant to watch them.”
He stressed that films should aim to bring joy to viewers rather than leave them feeling sad or distressed.