In April 2023, war broke out in Sudan and is still raging - also in the capital Khartoum. A Sudanese film team captured the lives of five residents before and during the war. Their film is now showing at the Berlinale. Clara Müller spoke to them.
In 2022, a Sudanese film team begins documenting the lives and dreams of five inhabitants of Khartoum. Then the war breaks out in April 2023. Up until today, 24 million people in Sudan are threatened by hunger and 12 million people are displaced.
The film is now showing at the Berlinale Film Festival and we want to talk to Ibrahim Snoopy, Rawia Alhag and Timeea Mohamed Ahmed from the director team about their journey in making the film as well as the current situation in Sudan.
What motivated you to start this film project and how did you as filmmakers find your protagonists the five inhabitants of the capital city of Sudan?
Ibrahim: Telling the story of Khartoum from different perspectives needed a team of visionary filmmakers. When the project first started, I knew I wanted to be part of this group, diving deep into the city and everything it holds.
Rawia: It is a very rare opportunity to tell Khartoum's story to the world, to put a face to the over 12 million people displaced and thousands killed, this creation felt like a must-do project that will last for a lifetime.
Timeea: The egg came before the chicken, so I joined the project after the war started - when we had to develop the new story of the film. But even if it was before the war started, I would still have chosen to tell Jawad's story, because Jawad is like Khartoum, holding all of those differences and souls in one person, a Sufi, a Rasta, a medic in the protests of the Sudanese revolution in 2019, a businessman, and a true good friend.
Was the original idea designed to portray the changes after the revolution? What changed in the project when the war broke out in April 2023?
Ibrahim: The original idea was to explore Khartoum poetically through the lives of its people. But when war broke out, we had to weave this new reality into the story without relying on painful visuals. Instead, we took a more delicate approach, allowing the audience to feel the impact through imagination rather than direct depiction.
All of you filmmakers and the protagonists had to flee the war and became refugees. How are people in Khartoum surviving today? Are you still in contact with people there? What are the most urgent challenges people face?
Rawia: Yes, I am still in contact with people in Khartoum, people are really suffering, there are continuous electricity blackouts, water and food supply is very limited. People are living in fear and continuous danger under bullets and bombing, there is no work and no schools are open for the little kids in most of the city. The situation is very dire right now.
Ibrahim: Khartoum is now a city sustained either by individuals supporting their families from abroad or by organizations like ERR (Emergency Response Rooms), providing aid to those without outside help. My parents are still in the warzone, and I reach them whenever the network or electricity allows. Among the many challenges they face are constant power outages and the relentless threat of random bombings of innocent civilians.
How is Khartoum to be seen politically as the Sudan conflicts have always been about centre and periphery?
Ibrahim: Politically, Khartoum has always been the focal point, drawing the most attention, resources, and support often at the expense of other regions, particularly western Sudan, which has long remained in its shadow.
Timeea: Khartoum did nothing, maybe politicians and armed forces over the years caused these centre and periphery conflicts, this war and all the bad things that happened in the last few decades. Khartoum is a city with a vibrant soul, that loves its people, includes people from the far north, south, west or east, regardless of their colour. It’s a city that I always loved, that always embraced me and my family and millions of the Sudanese people, it has its unimaginable struggles and hardships, but it’s a city that I will always love.
Your film has been premiering at Sundance Film Festival in the US and now at the Berlinale. What do you want audiences to take away from the movie?
Ibrahim: To have the audience realize the magnitude of what is happening in Sudan is essential to me and to all of us. We want the audience to get to know our beautiful culture and the society that once embraced us all. It's essential for me that the audience grasps the true scale of Sudan's crisis. Yet, it’s just as important to showcase our rich culture and the society that once brought us all together.
Rawia: I don’t really have a specific feeling in mind that the audience should take away from this film. Some might feel sad, some might be excited or feel hopeful. What I care about is that people know, somehow understand or raise questions about the situation in Sudan. They should advocate and help to stop the current conflict. I want people to tell their neighbours about Sudan: how we dance, how we pray, how we live and why we laugh, and finally they should get to know my favourite city on earth Khartoum better.
Thank you so much for this interview.
The interview was conducted by Clara Müller.
More information about the film including screening times at the Berlinale can be found here.
