Lupita Nyong’o Joins Sudan’s Oscar Submission “Goodbye Julia” as Executive Producer

Oscar-winning Kenyan actor Lupita Nyong’o is supporting Sudan’s second-ever Academy Award international feature film submission, Goodbye Julia, as an executive producer.

Nyong’o, and Sudanese filmmakers Mohamed Kordofani and Amjad Abu Alala, announced this on 9 November 2023. Nyong’o said, ‘The story of Goodbye Julia is poignant and gripping, and I feel honoured to be part of its journey across the world. Congratulations Mohamed Kordofani, Amjad Abu Alala and Ali Elarabi on creating such a beautiful work that so eloquently depicts the complicated relationship between the Northern and southern Sudanese communities.’

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Kordofani and Abu Alala recently met Nyong’o at the Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in Los Angeles (LA) in the US state of California. CAA is an American talent and sports agency based in LA with more than 20 global offices. CAA and Cairo-based Ambient Light are handling sales of Goodbye Julia in the US and Canada.

Nyong’o is known for acting in many films such as Black Panther and 12 Years a Slave (2013), which was her debut film and earned her an Academy Award. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, and a Daytime Emmy Award with nominations for a Tony Award and a Golden Globe Award. Nyong’o will next be seen starring in Paramount’s A Quiet Place horror franchise spinoff A Quiet Place: Day One, written and directed by Michael Sarnoski.

Goodbye Julia, the first-ever Sudanese feature to screen at the Cannes Film Festival, has been selected by Sudan to be its second-ever Academy Awards submission for best international feature film.

In May 2023, the debut feature from Sudanese filmmaker Mohamed Kordofani, has been selected to screen at the Cannes Film Festival 2023 or Festival de Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section, a milestone for Sudan, marking the country’s first ever selection to the internationally renowned festival. Kordofani also won the Un Certain Regard’s freedom prize at Cannes.

The feature film 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 was 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.