Cultural Healing Film Festival kicks off in Khartoum

“Compiled story”

Participants of the project, Concordis file

The Cultural Healing Film Festival, the Sudan’s first ever film festival for Sudanese-made films, kicked off Sunday, January 28^th at the Salam Rotana Hotel in Khartoum with the presence of the Director General of Ministry of Culture and Information of Khartoum State, Abdul Elah Abusin, British Ambassador to Sudan, Peter Tibber and Head of European Union, Tomas Ulicny, as well as a number of artists, journalists and concerned citizens, two of the films were screened yesterday and to screened also today at the British Council and the other films will be screened at 7:30pm in a daily basis until Wednesday 30^th January.

Cultural Healing is an exciting film project based in Khartoum. The project, funded by the European Union and Concordis International is a video training and film making programme aimed at promoting the social cohesion in Sudan through film.

“The UK is supporting this film festival because we recognize the positive contribution that the cinema makes to cultural, social and economic life, in the UK economically, the UK film industry contributed more than 4.6 billion euro to the national economy in 2011. Socially, film is a tool for education, an avenue for expression, and a stimulus for creativity”. Tibber said at the opening ceremony of the festival.

For his part, Director General of Ministry of Culture and Information of Khartoum State, Abdul Elah Abusin said that his ministry acknowledges the weakness of the film industry in the country, pointing out that they promise to support the youth and participants to develop the Sudanese-made films. 

“Because the cinema has a great message to deliver, its not just a film, but it’s a life and society”. Abusin added.

The project was based on a concept developed by British-Sudanese film maker Taghreed Elsanhouri, the Artistic Director for the project and the Founder of the Cultural Healing Film Festival, the first of which to be held in Khartoum. Since 2010 she has been working closely with Concordis International staff in Sudan to deliver the training in film and storytelling. They are supported by their local partner, Nasaq Journalism Training Centre.

“As a filmmaker I believe that more than economics or politics it is through the power of stories and storytelling that we can imagine and create a better world for our children and ourselves.” Elsanhouri said.

The programme involved training people from a wide range of backgrounds within Sudan, including journalism students, civil society representatives and young people, to make documentary films that express their own culture and traditions.

From each of the four initial workshops of 25 students each, eight teams were trained to produce short documentary films of about 10 minutes in length. Two more teams worked on an hour long documentary on a single social or cultural issue. After decades of war, cultural healing and social cohesion was promoted through the development of film making skills by sending the participants back to their communities to film their own stories. The films will be shown simultaneously in Sudan and South Sudan, with accompanying workshops.

The aim of the programme was to bring about greater understanding among the people of Sudan of the diverse range of social and cultural issues and traditions within Sudan and South Sudan, contributing to the healing of wounds suffered during many years of civil war.

The programme will contribute to the development of film-making capacity in Sudan and South Sudan and build the capacity of the local partner, Nasaq Journalism Training Centre, an exciting project that will creatively promote healing through the documenting and sharing of different social and cultural perspectives at a crucial stage of the development of both countries.

The Films:

Three of the workshops have taken place and two short films are to be screened today at the British Council and four others will be completed by April 2013. The workshop topics included also female headed households, business skills and disability in sports.

Film Shorts 1 - Musa

Directed by the Film Maker Mohammed Marzoug, “Musa” is a moving film documents the mute anguish and sorrow of a crippled and homeless civil war veteran, who injured during the war between Sudan and South Sudan and as a result he lost one of his leg, the film is showing that many war veterans are returning with severe and complex mental injuries, and that they need to be provided with rehabilitation services so as to make their re-integration into society. 

  

Film Shorts 2 - Nile Drums

This film follows a Southern Sudanese musician as he bids a prolonged and bittersweet farewell to Khartoum, the city in which he grew up, before his repatriation to South Sudan.