Sixth Edition of Sudan Independent Film Festival Commences

The sixth edition of the Sudan Independent Film Festival (SIFF) has commenced with an opening ceremony on 21 January 2020 at El-Sunut Park. Held annually by Sudan Film Factory, SIFF will run until 27 January 2020 with films from various countries screened in multiple locations across Khartoum.

‘This edition celebrates a new Sudan and the return of a new dawn of Sudanese cinema, in parallel with the merits of the extended struggles and strife, painting the face of the revolution that is our people, in that glorious December,’ said a statement by SIFF.

SIFF 2020 opened with screening of the Sudanese feature film, ‏Khartoum Offside by Marwa Alzain. Starring Elham Balatone, Nedal Fadlallah, Fatma Gaddal, and Sara Jubara, the documentary is a first-hand narration of a rebellious women determined to chase their ambitions of becoming professional footballers.

Other Sudanese feature films that will be screened during SIFF 2020 are aKasha by Hajooj Kuka and Paris Stalingrad by Hind Meddeb. The following Sudanese short films will also be screening:

Listen to My Dance – Alyaa Sirelkhatem 
‏A Handful of Dates – Hashim Hassan 
Mara – Mohamed Khalil 
The Dogs Shitter – Sadam Siddig 
Future – Mohamed Najib 
Winji – Ibrahim Sayed 
Who’s Paint? – Sannad Shareef 
Qurrat – Mohammed Elamin 
Leave it for Tomorrow – Mohamed Zbiday 
Journey to Kenya – Ibrahim Mohammed

In addition, SIFF 2020 will screen films and documentaries from Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, UAE, Turkey, South Africa, Finland, Argentina, USA, Italy, France, Serbia and more.

The films will be screened in various locations around Khartoum such as Sudan Film Factory, Goethe Institute, British Council, French Institute, House of Heritage, Coptic Club, Combine College and more.

Celebrated as the gateway to welcoming Sudanese cinema, SIFF takes place annually on 21 January in tribute to the career and memory of the late Sudanese intellectual and artist Hussein Sharif who has made essential contributions in filmmaking, writing, poetry, translation, journalism and other forms of arts throughout his life, which extended from 1934 to 21 January 2005.

‘We think about Hussein Shariffe as one of the greatest contributors in the march of the Sudanese culture and art not only through his whole films, the number of his pictures or the series of his journalistic and creative writings, but also through the exceptional meanings inherent in his unique style, which links his life with his creative works. Sudan Film Factory decides to launch the Sudan Festival for Independent Cinema in January 21 every year to transform the memory of Shariffe to a celebration for the cinema, to which he devoted his whole life, and which it was one of his means to express his social and individual reality. So, we hope this festival will adopt the human and artistic values, to which the experiment of Hussein Shariffe based on,’ said a statement by SIFF.

‘This edition of Sudan Independent Film Festival is dedicated in gratitude to all the souls that have turned into stars, leading the way for Sudanese women and men on the path to an honorable and emancipated life…and to all the Sudanese artists who faced difficulties while practicing their art and documenting life in the most difficult and darkest moment of our nation’s contemporary history, and for freedom fighters the world over.’

SIFF will close on 27 January 2020 with an award ceremony for the participating films. The jury includes the award-winning Sudanese filmmaker Iraqi producer and film director Kasim Abid, Sudanese writer Estela Caetano, Sudanese actor and musician Mahmoud Al Saraj, Sudanese filmmaker Suzanna Mirghani and Sudanese writer Dr Fathi Osman.

For more information, visit siff-sd.com.