The sixth edition of Sudan Independent Film Festival, to be held January 22-26 at the Goethe-Institut, Sharia Al Nujumi, Khartoum, Sudan, is the gateway to welcoming Sudanese cinema. 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.
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.
The message behind SIFF 2020 is to celebrate the new footprint of the Sudanese cinema movement, which has taken off, all thanks to every person who added a detail or an idea in any form of the arts, alongside those who helped us discover ourselves, one way or the other, as a nation and as individuals and those who contributed to us realizing our collective and personal identity.
SCREENINGS
22 Jan 2020
4 Years in 10 Minutes | Documentary | 63mins | Serbia
Vintage footage of alien landscapes and mystical mental states, shot by the first Serbian man to climb Mount Everest, is woven with puzzling excerpts from his diary, composing an experimental meditation on a journey to eternal glory, and back to the banality of everyday life; a journey that changed him in ways he never intended. Mladen Kovacevic (born 1979), Serbian filmmaker and founder of Horopter Film Production. His films Unplugged (2013) and Wall of Death, and All That (2016) were multi-awarded in festivals as HotDocs, CPH:DOX, FIDMarseille, DOK Leipzig.
4 Years in 10 Minutes (2018) got the Special Mention at Zagreb Dox, Grand Prix at Beldocs and was featured at IDFA Best of Fests. Eurodoc alumni.
23 Jan 2020
Mirrors of Diaspora | Documentary |88mins | Iraq
The Mirrors of Diaspora explores the lives and journeys of seven Iraqi painters and sculptors who left in the 70s to follow their passion in Rome and Florence and became established artists over the years. These individuals make up the Iraqi Artists in Exile, a movement that represents modern Iraqi art and culture, whose work has graced public spaces in Europe and been exhibited worldwide.
Kasim Abid is an Iraqi director and producer, who has been living in London since 1982 and has worked in filmmaking and TV production for more than 20 years. He directed and produced award-winning documentary films such as Naji Al Ali: An Artist With Vision, Surda Checkpoint and Life After The Fall. In 2004, he founded the Independent Film and TV College in Baghdad and has recently directed two major film festivals in Iraq. His previous documentary, Whispers of the Cities, was screened at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival in 2013.
24 Jan 2020
The Reports on Sarah & Saleem | Narrative | 127mins |Palestine
The affair of a married Palestinian man and a married Israeli woman in Jerusalem takes a dangerous political dimension when they are spotted in the wrong place at the wrong time, leaving them to deal with more than their broken marriages
Muayad Alayan is a Palestinian filmmaker based in Jerusalem. He studied film in San Francisco, California with the documentary Exiles in Jerusalem as his graduation project. He co-founded Palcine Productions, a collective of filmmakers and audiovisual artists, to facilitate collaboration on media projects and promote film as an art form for youth.
26 Jan 2020
The Pillar of Salt | Narrative | 70mins | Turkey
A reclusive woman in her thirties leads a life frozen in time in a cave-like room. In her rare trips to the city, she chats with an oarswoman haunted by the devils. She searches for her twin sister in unfrequented corners of the city. In this journey in which time and space are out of joint, the same dream is recounted time after time.
Burak Çevik produced creative-documentary feature film titled Meteors directed by Gurcan Keltek in 2017, selected to the official competition at the 70th Locarno Film Festival under the Filmmakers of the Present section and won the Swatch Best First Film Award.
He directed his first feature film titled The Pillar of Salt and premiered in Berlinale Forum in 2018.