‘Goodbye Julia’ Receives Freedom Prize at Cannes Film Festival 2023

Goodbye Julia, the debut feature film by Sudanese filmmaker Mohamed Kodofani, has received the Freedom Prize, a milestone for Sudan, making history as the first Sudanese film to receive an award at the Cannes Film Festival.

It is also the first Sudanese film to be selected to screen at the Cannes Film Festival or Festival de Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section, marking the country’s first ever selection to the internationally renowned festival. The film received a standing ovation and praise from international filmmakers and critics who attended the screening of the film at the Théâtre Claude Debussy.

In his acceptance speech, Kordofan thanked the Sudanese people for their support as well as for not giving up. He said he is “heartbroken” by the war in Sudan and the fact that he could not go home. “The bombing needs to stop,” he said.

Goodbye Julia follows the divide between Sudan’s north and south. Wracked by guilt after covering up a murder, Mona, a Sudanese retired singer in a tense marriage, tries to make amends by taking in the deceased’s South 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 stars Sudanese actress Eiman Yousif, South Sudanese supermodel Siran Riak, who is making her acting debut in the film, Sudanese actor Nazar Goma and well-known South Sudanese actress Ger Duani.

The film is produced by award-winning filmmaker Amjad Abu Alala, who became internationally known in 2020 for his award-winning feature film, You Will Die at 20, which became Sudan’s first-ever Oscar submission in 2020. Co-producers are Baho Bakhsh, Safei Eldin Mahmoud, Khaled Awad, Michael Hendricks, Marc Irmer, Faisal Baltyuor, Mohamed Kordofani, Issraa El-Kogali, Ali El Arabi and Adham El Sherif.

Goodbye Julia is written and directed by Kordofani, who is a full-time aircraft engineer and part-time filmmaker, director and cinematographer based in Bahrain. The Sudanese filmmaker founded his own film production house, Kordofani Films, in 2014 to produce commercials or advertisements, corporate videos, music videos, event coverage and more. Kordofani is also an award-winning filmmaker who has accepted the Best Director Award for Gone for Gold. For Nyerkuk, he received the Network of Alternative Arab Screens (NAAS) award at Carthage Film Festival, the Jury Award at Oran International Film Festival, the Black Elephant Award for Best Sudanese film at the Sudan Independent Film Festival; Pellegrini Award at the 27° African, Asian and Latin American Film Festival Awards in 2017; and multiple awards at film festivals across the world.

Goodbye Julia is co-production between Sudan, Egypt, Germany, France, Saudi Arabia and Sweden. Sudan’s Station Films is lead producer with co-producers comprising Egypt’s Red Star, Sudan’s Klozium Studios, Germany’s Die Gesellschaft, France’s Dolce Vita Films, Saudi Arabia’s Cinewaves Films, Egypt’s Ambient Light, and Scandinavia’s Barentsfilm.

The film has previously participated in a number of international joint production events including EAVE (European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs) in Cairo International Film Festival, Ciniphilia Bound of Cannes Film Festival, Follow the Nile and Durban International Film Festival in South Africa.

Goodbye Julia won five awards at El Gouna Film Festival’s CineGouna Platform including the the MAD Solutions’ award and the top prize for best project in development. 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 and Beirut’s Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC).

This year at the Cannes Film Festival, in addition to Goodbye Julia, many Arab and African films were Un Certain Regard winners, including Les Meutes (Hounds) by Morocco’s Kamal Lazraq and Kadib Abyad (Mother of All Lies) by Tunisia’s Asmae El Moudir.

The prestigious Cannes Film Festival takes place annually in Cannes, France. This year, the 76th Cannes Film Festival took place from 16 – 27 May 2023.

For more information, visit www.festival-cannes.com/en/press/press-releases/un-certain-regard-winners-list-2023/.