Sudanese Film Group

Sudanese Film Group

9 Episodes

Formalized in 1989 to foster a new wave of Sudanese filmmaking free from censorship, the Sudanese Film Group sought to create a distinctly homegrown cinema that reflected the experiences of ordinary people and challenged entrenched systems of power in a country shaped by decades of colonialism, civil war, and political instability. Formally radical and thematically incisive, these short films by founding members Eltayeb Mahdi, Ibrahim Shaddad, and Suliman Mohamed Ibrahim Elnour employ a cinematic grammar all their own to confront issues of economic exploitation, imperialism, the abuse of power, and postcolonial disillusionment. Though the group’s ambitions were soon thwarted by the dictatorship of Omar al-Bashir, the films they left behind are a powerful assertion of creative independence and cinema as a form of political resistance—a legacy explored in the revelatory documentary TALKING ABOUT TREES, also featured here.

All films except AFRICA, THE JUNGLE, DRUMS AND REVOLUTION and TALKING ABOUT TREES were digitally restored by Arsenal – Institut für Film und Videokunst e.V.

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Sudanese Film Group

9 Episodes

  • Hunting Party
    42:15
    Hunting Party
    Episode 1

    Hunting Party

    Episode 1

    Directed by Ibrahim Shaddad • 1964 • East Germany
    Starring Ambroise Ruzidana, Petra Hinze, Günter Meier

    One of the defining works of the Sudanese Film Group adopts (and subverts) the form of a Hollywood western as it follows a Black man on the run from a band of white vigilantes.

  • The Tomb
    17:41
    The Tomb
    Episode 2

    The Tomb

    Episode 2

    Directed by Eltayeb Mahdi • 1977 • Egypt

    One of the founding members of the Sudanese Film Group, Eltayeb Mahdi, uses the story of a charlatan who claims to be able to heal people to explore questions of blind faith and authority.

  • It Still Rotates
    19:31
    It Still Rotates
    Episode 3

    It Still Rotates

    Episode 3

    Directed by Suliman Mohamed Ibrahim Elnour • 1978 • Soviet Union

    Sudanese Film Group cofounder Suliman Mohamed Ibrahim Elnour depicts everyday life at a newly established school for Bedouins in the desert of Yemen.

  • Africa, the Jungle, Drums and Revolution
    11:13
    Africa, the Jungle, Drums and Revolution
    Episode 4

    Africa, the Jungle, Drums and Revolution

    Episode 4

    Directed by Suliman Mohamed Ibrahim Elnour • 1979 • Soviet Union

    Sudanese director Suliman Mohamed Ibrahim Elnour’s diploma film from the VGIK film school in Moscow explores representations of Africa in Soviet society.

  • Four Times for Children
    21:23
    Four Times for Children
    Episode 5

    Four Times for Children

    Episode 5

    Directed by Eltayeb Mahdi • 1979 • Sudan

    With a direct, vérité gaze, this candid documentary offers a revealing look at the inner workings of a Sudanese school for children with physical and learning disabilities.

  • A Camel
    14:57
    A Camel
    Episode 6

    A Camel

    Episode 6

    Directed by Ibrahim Shaddad • 1981 • Sudan

    This short by Ibrahim Shaddad of the Sudanese Film Group is a report from the life of a camel, most of which plays out in a dreary, small room—a sesame mill.

  • The Rope
    33:08
    The Rope
    Episode 7

    The Rope

    Episode 7

    Directed by Ibrahim Shaddad • 1984 • Sudan

    In this potent allegory set in the wake of an 1822 massacre by Ottoman Egyptian forces, two blind men and a donkey make their way through the Sudanese desert—but who’s leading who?

  • The Station
    16:39
    The Station
    Episode 8

    The Station

    Episode 8

    Directed by Eltayeb Mahdi • 1989 • Sudan

    This poetic documentary depicts the comings and goings at a gas station in the Sudanese desert where tradition and modernity collide.

  • Talking About Trees
    1:37:29
    Talking About Trees
    Episode 9

    Talking About Trees

    Episode 9

    Directed by Suhaib Gasmelbari • 2019 • Sudan

    In 1989, the members of the Sudanese Film Group saw their dream of establishing a Sudanese cinema free from state censorship dashed by the military coup and repressive dictatorship of Omar al-Bashir. Now, reunited after decades of distance and exile, ...

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