KHARTOUM

In the organizer's words:

AFRIKAMERA: KHARTOUM

Anas Saeed, Rawia Alhag, Ibrahim Snoopy, Timeea M. Ahmed, Phil Cox I Sudan 2025 | OmeU | 80 min

SA 15 NOV I 21:30 I CITY KINO WEDDING

SO 16 NOV I 17:30 I FSK KINO

Equipped with donated iPhones, the four Sudanese filmmakers Anas Saeed, Rawia Alhag, Ibrahim Snoopy and Timeea M. Ahmed, together with British writer and director Phil Cox, began documenting the lives and dreams of five very different people in Khartoum in 2022 as they try to survive in the chaos of their home country Sudan: Street urchin Lokain and his best friend Wilson embark on a mission in the garbage dumps of Khartoum to buy two nice shirts. Khadmallah, a single mother and tea merchant, sells cardamom coffee and studies mathematics on the side to fulfill her dream of owning her own business. Jawad, a Sufi Rastafarian and resistance volunteer, rides a motorcycle and demonstrates against the military for a civilian government. And Majdi, a civil servant, escapes the office routine by organizing pigeon races with his son.

When filming began, the military leadership had just overthrown the civilian government. In April 2023, a war broke out between the army and the RSF (Rapid Support Forces) militia, forcing more than ten million people to flee and which continues to this day.

Production was halted when fighter jets bombed Khartoum and armed militias took over the streets. Both the filmmakersand the protagonistshad to flee Sudan, but continued their innovative cinematic work - using a mixture of animation, green screen reconstructions and documentary dream reconstructions to continue telling their story.

KHARTOUM premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2025 and celebrated its European premiere in the Panorama Dokumente section of the Berlinale in February 2025.

IBRAHIM SNOOPY is a Sudanese filmmaker and cinematographer who works for ARTE, BBC and the Washington Post. He also makes music videos, commercials and short films. His best-known works include the documentaries KHARTOUM OFFSIDE, which was awarded Best Documentary at the Carthage Film Festival, and FROM ARGENTINA TO SUDAN.

RAWIA ALHAG is a Sudanese filmmaker and screenwriter based in Nairobi, Kenya. Her work focuses on women and children and highlights the experiences and struggles of Sudanese people both within their communities and in the diaspora. She directed the award-winning short film OUT OF COVERAGE, which won Best Foreign Film at the Juba Film Festival.

ANAS SAEED started his career as a video journalist at the independent media house Ayin Network. He has produced several reports for international media dealing with human rights issues in various Sudanese communities.

TIMEEA MOHAMED AHMED is a Sudanese director, editor and producer based in East Africa. His works are in the field of non-narrative, experimental and documentary films. He has directed short films such as SADDARI (2023) and IS IT WAR? (2024).

PHIL COX has co-directed the award-winning indie film collective Native Voice Films since 1998 and has made over 30 films for television and cinema. For his work in Sudan since 2004, he has received the British Grierson Award, the Rory Peck Award and the Hinzpeter and Bayeux Calvados Awards, among others.

More information: AFRIKAMERA Film Festival.

Price information:

City Kino Wedding: Tickets: €9, concessions: €6 plus booking fee fsk Kino: Tickets: €11.50, concessions: €9.50 Berlin Pass: €6.50 plus booking fee