release date October 29 2023
GOODBYE JULIA holds historic screening at Cairo’s Zawya Cinema amid a stellar media presence
Mohamed Kordofani's critically acclaimed Sudanese drama GOODBYE JULIA enjoyed a remarkable screening at Cairo’s Zawya Cinema on Saturday, October 28th in the presence of the film’s cast and crew, along with several high profile media personalities and celebrities.
Aside from usual suspects director and screenwriter Mohamed Kordofani, producers Amjad Abu Alala and Mohamed Al-Omda, and lead actors Eiman Yousif and Nazar Goma, the screening was attended by director Yousry Nasrallah, costume designer Nahed Nasrallah, and actor Sabry Fawwaz.
Since its wider commercial release across the country on October 25th, the film has been packing the iconic venue with full-house screenings on a daily basis.
Last Saturday’s screening in particular was followed by a five-minute standing ovation and a long, interactive Q&A with the cast and crew.
Aside from its overwhelming success at Zawya, the film has been selling out shows at several theaters across Egypt, with its initial commercial release taking place at only 12 theaters across the country before rising to a whopping 23 theaters only one day later in response to public demand.
Previously, the film held multiple successful screenings at the recently concluded BFI London Film Festival, where it received great praise and sold out all screenings a month before the festival launched.
The laureate of the Cannes Film Festival's Un Certain Regard Freedom Prize was also named Sudan’s official submission for Best Foreign Film at the 96th Academy Awards and has recently won several prestigious awards including Best African Film at the Septimius Awards, where it was in the running for Best African Actress, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Soundtrack as well.
It also scored a hattrick at the 2023 Festival Paysages de Cinéastes, where it won the Audience Award, the Youth Jury Award, and the Women’s Jury Award, as well as winning the Roger Ebert Award at the 59th Chicago International Film Festival, and two awards at the 11th War on Screen Festival in France — namely the Audience Award and the Press Jury Award.
Before that, GOODBYE JULIA was featured at the Horizons Section of the 2023 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and enjoyed widespread popularity and packed screenings after its historic world premiere at Cannes.
GOODBYE JULIA stars Eiman Yousif, Siran Riak — the former Ms. South Sudan — Nazar Goma, and Ger Duany; is written and directed by Kordofani; and produced by Station Films’ acclaimed Sudanese filmmaker Amjad Abu Alala — the director of Sudan’s first-ever submission to the Academy Awards YOU WILL DIE AT TWENTY — in collaboration with producer Mohamed Al-Omda, who co-produced Yemen’s Berlin International Film Festival selection THE BURDENED.
A true example of Arab-European collaboration, the film is also co-produced by Baho Bakhsh and Safei Eldin Mahmoud (Red Star Films), Michael Henrichs (Die Gesellschaft), Khaled Awad and Mohamed Kordofani (Klozium Studios), Marc Irmer (Dolce Vita), Faisal Baltyuor (Cinewaves Films), Ali El-Arabi (Ambient Light), Adham El-Sherif (CULT), and Issraa Elkogali Häggström (RiverFlower). Additionally, MAD Solutions is handling the film’s worldwide sales.
Previously, GOODBYE JULIA won MAD Solutions’ Grant Award at the CineGouna SpringBoard that was held at the fourth El Gouna Film Festival, Best Film Project in the Development Phase ($15,000), a certificate from the El Gouna Cinema Platform, a Mentorship Prize from the IEFTA, and the New Century Prize ($10,000).
It also won the Malmö Arab Film Festival’s award for Best Project In Development and received financial support from Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Fund, the Paris Region, ARRI, and Film und Medienstiftung NRW.
Kordofani is a Sudanese filmmaker whose short film NYERKUK won the Black Elephant Award for Best Sudanese Film, NAAS Award for Best Arab Film at the Carthage Film Festival, Jury Award at the Oran International Arab Film Festival, and Arnone-Belavite Pellegrini Award at the FCAAA in Milan.
His second short KEJERS PRISON was screened during the Sudanese revolution at the sit-in square in front of thousands of protesters, and his documentary A TOUR IN LOVE REPUBLIC was the first pro-revolution film to be broadcast on Sudan's national TV.
His last film was THIS IS SUDAN, which was commissioned by Sudan’s former prime minister Abdallah Hamdok to promote Sudan's potential for investment.
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