“You Will Die At Twenty” Becomes First-Ever Sudanese Film Submitted to the Oscars

The much-acclaimed Sudanese film, You Will Die at Twenty, by Sudanese director and screenwriter Amjad Abu Alala, has entered the 93rd Academy Awards (the Oscars) race for the first time as the country’s first Best International Feature Film submission for the 2021 Academy Awards.

We’re so proud to announce that #Sudan has entered the Academy Awards race for the first time with the selection of Amjad Abu Alala’s You Will Die at Twenty as the country’s first Best International Feature Film submission for the 2021 Academy Awards! #Oscars2021 pic.twitter.com/xhxZF53IgB

— You Will Die At Twenty (@YouWillDieAt20) November 16, 2020

You Will Die at Twenty is only the eighth feature film ever produced in Sudan. 

Inspired by Sudanese writer Hammour Ziada’s short story, Sleeping at the Foot of the Mountain, You Will Die At Twenty is set in Al Jazirah state, where a mother gives birth to Muzamel in a Sudanese village dominated by Sufi beliefs. When a prophecy by the holy man of the village predicts that he will die at the age of 20, Muzamel grows up surrounded by sympathy, making him feel dead before his time, until Suliman, a cinematographer who has worked in the city, returns to the village. Suliman’s old cinema projector opens a window onto a whole new world for Muzamel. Slowly, he comes to doubt the truth of the prophecy.

You Will Die at Twenty is the debut feature of Abu Alala. Currently based between Qatar, Sudan and Egypt, Abu Alala is a well-known Sudanese filmmaker, director and screenwriter who was born and raised in the UAE. He studied media at United Arab Emirates University (UAEU). Abu Alala has made numerous short films that have been shown at film festivals, including Tina (2009), Coffee and Orange (2004), and Feathers of the Birds (2005). In 2013, Abu Alala won the Best Arabic Theatre Script Award from the Arab Authority for Apple Pies. Currently, Abu Alala is the Head of the Programming Committee of the Sudan Independent Film Festival (SIFF).

You Will Die At Twenty has bagged several awards since its premiere at the 76th Venice International Film Festival in September 2019 where it received the Lion of the Future (Luigi de Laurentiis) Award for Best Debut Feature, becoming the first Sudanese film to win an award at the Italian film festival. In addition, You Will Die At Twenty received the Golden Star Award for Best Feature Narrative at El Gouna International Film Festival on 28 September 2019. The film also received the Best Screenplay award at the Carthage Film Festival 2019 and the Hamburg Producers Award at the Filmfest Hamburg 2019.

The 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, will honor the best films released between January 2020 and February 2021. It is scheduled to take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California on 25 April 2021. 

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