2023-05-21 14:32:22
Sunglasses, a perfectly tailored beige suit and an impeccable smile, the director of “Goodbye Julia”, a historical drama about the relationship between northern and southern Sudanese, gives the feeling of being in his element.
But after a few minutes of discussion, the filmmaker no longer hides his discomfort: “While I’m on the red carpet, people are trying to flee the bombs,” he told AFP.
Saturday evening, after the screening of the film, the emotion in the room was palpable. “I was honored, proud, happy at the same time … But I also feel guilty for being there. These are a lot of contradictory feelings”, he confides, claiming to be “heartbroken” by the situation. from his country.
Since April 15, the war between the army of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane and the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (FSR), of General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, has claimed a thousand lives in this East African country. ‘Is, one of the poorest in the world, and more than a million displaced people and refugees.
Stay or go?
His country, Mohamed Kordofani does not know if he will be able to find him in the near future. “For the moment, I don’t know where I live,” he replies with a tight smile, when AFP asks him if he intends to return to live in Sudan or choose the path of exile.
This trained aeronautical engineer had left everything to found his own production studio. For several months, he has been living and working in Lebanon. “I’m sure things will get better,” he says hopefully.
“I have seen people take to the streets to protest. These people will not just be ruled by a dictator or an Islamist militia. The war may continue but eventually I know it will end. “.
The political reality of his country is precisely one of the subjects of his first feature film “Goodbye Julia”. The latter looks back on the 2011 referendum that led to the independence of South Sudan.
“I wanted to understand why this vote had been won by nearly 99% of the votes. For me, there was something unexpected,” he explains.
So much for the backdrop. The rest of the story focuses on a domestic drama: a woman who is suffocating in her marriage and in her life. But also a woman who, with her husband, caused the irreparable death of a man from the south.
Rooted racism of the Sudanese of the north against those of the south, the weight of traditions and religion, the place of women in society… The filmmaker auscultates, without taboo, his native country. A project that was “very complicated” to carry out, he says.
“The question of funding was not easy to settle, but it was above all the logistics that were difficult to manage. How to shoot when there are demonstrations and riots in the street?” he asks. “The reality of the country very quickly caught up with us even if we finally managed to adapt”.
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