Goodbye Julia

Goodbye Julia is a 2023 Sudanese drama film directed by Mohamed Kordofani. It is Kordofani's first feature film and the first film from Sudan ever to be presented in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival.
It was Selected as the Sudanese entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards.
Plot
Goodbye Julia tells the story of two women who represent the complicated relationship and differences between northern and southern Sudanese communities. It takes place in Khartoum during the last years of Sudan as a united country, shortly before the 2011 separation of South Sudan. Mona, an upper-middle-class former popular singer from the North, who lives with her husband Akram, seeks to attenuate her feelings of guilt for causing the death of a Southern man by employing Julia, his unsuspecting widow, as her maid.
Cast
Eiman Yousif as Mona
Siran Riak as Julia
Nazar Gomaa as Akram
Ger Duany as Majier
Background
Sudanese filmmaker Mohamed Kordofani lives in Bahrain and works as an aviation engineer. A largely self-taught filmmaker, he was distinguished as best director with the SudaneseTaharqa International Award for Arts for his 2015 short film Gone for Gold. His second short film, Nyerkuk (2016), received several distinctions, including the Network of Alternative Arab Screens (NAAS) Award at the Carthage Film Festival, the Jury Award at the Oran International Arabic Film Festival, and the Black Elephant Award of the Sudan Independent Film Festival.
Among other project development grants, the film received support from the Beirut-based Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC), the El Gouna Film Festival in Egypt, the Swedish Malmö Arab Film Festival and the Red Sea Fund in Saudi Arabia.
Main roles were played by Sudanese singer and actress Eiman Yousif and Siran Riak, a former Miss South Sudan and fashion model born in today's South Sudan, who never before acted in a film. - Commenting on the social context of his film, Kordofani said “The racism that was practiced for many decades from most Northern Arabs, government and people, was a major reason for the southerners choosing to secede. I consider Goodbye Julia a call for reconciliation and a spotlight on the social dynamics that led to the separation of the South."The film was produced by Dubai-born and -based film director and screenwriter Amjad Abu Alala, whose 2019 drama film You Will Die at Twenty won the Lion of the Future Award for best debut film at the Venice Film Festival as well as the Golden Star for best narrative film at the El Gouna Film Festival. Further, this film was Sudan's first ever submission to the Academy Awards.
Owing to challenging political conditions and lack of infrastructure for cinematography, shooting of the scenes took 40 days from 6 November to 15 December 2022. The musical score by Sudanese musician Mazin Hamid was recorded during ongoing clashes between the military and civil society in Khartoum. In an interview with NPR network, Kordofani talked about his personal experience as a northern Sudanese with the discriminaton towards southerners, his feeling of guilt and motivation to make this film just before the outbreak of the devastating military conflict that started on 15 April 2023.
Goodbye Julia premiered with an audience of 1,000 spectators on 20 May 2023 in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. The screening and the following post-premiere Q&A with the cast and crew, including comments on the ongoing 2023 Sudan conflict, received standing ovations. Further, Goodbye Julia was also invited to international film festivals, including the BFI London Film Festival, Karlovy Vary, Melbourne and the Warsaw Film Festival.
In September 2023, Goodbye Julia was nominated as Sudan's candidate for Best International Feature Film at the 96 Academy Awards, but was ultimately not given this award. On October 25, it was launched in 20 Egyptian cinemas.
Critical reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, it received 100% based on 9 reviews.
Reviews of the premiere were very positive, highlighting the film's dramatic storytelling of personal relationships before a wider social and historical background. Writing for Cineuropa portal, film critic Fabien Lemercier said: "Mohamed Korfani offers up wonderful snapshots, overviews and explanations of all the nuances of the acute Sudanese situation of the time. [...] It makes for a film of impeccable quality, marking the birth of an incredibly promising filmmaker and confirming the emergence of a 7th art in Sudan."
In a similar way, the Hollywood Reporter wrote:
In her review for Variety magazine, Jessica Kiang wrote:
In her review for BBC News, Shereen Sherief praised both the film's scenario and photography and gave special credit to the soundtrack as well as to the two main actresses, who "explore the deep-seated tensions and divisions that resulted in the split of Sudan."
In Cairo, Wael Khairy, editor of SceneNow website, praised the "emotional punch and [...] nuanced insights of the disturbing racism that Southerners endure on a daily basis." Despite this, he also wrote that "The opening scenes in Khartoum are filmed with the tension of a ticking time bomb, but as it approaches the second and third acts, it stumbles and treads familiar ground."
Awards
Prix de la Liberté (Freedom Award) at 2023 Cannes Film Festival
Best African Film at 2023 Septimius Awards, The Netherlands
Submitted as Sudanese entry in Best International Feature Film category for the 96th Academy Awards
See also
Cinema of Sudan
List of submissions to the 96th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film
List of Sudanese submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
References
External links
Press kit from Cannes Festival with pictures and information about the director, actors etc.
Interview in Variety magazine with Mohamed Kordofani about his film and the 2023 fighting in Sudan
Interview for NPR network with Mohamed Kordofani about his personal experience and motivation for the film (text and sound file for listening)
2023 films
2023 drama films
Sudanese drama films
2020s Arabic-language films
Films set in Sudan