GOODBYE JULIA named Sudan’s official submission for 96th Academy Awards, set to theatrically release in Egypt

release date September 26 2023

Hot on the heels of its recent hattrick of awards at the Festival Paysages de Cinéastes and just ahead of its fast approaching and eagerly anticipated screenings at the BFI London and El Gouna film festivals, Mohamed Kordofani’s GOODBYE JULIA was just named Sudan’s official submission for Best Foreign Film at the 96th Academy Awards.

In other news, the widely praised and acclaimed Sudanese title is also expected to be released in Egyptian theaters on October 25th; just a few weeks after its Arab World premiere at the El Gouna Film Festival, which will be running from October 13th to the 20th and will be attended by Kordofani along with two of the film’s producers, the film’s lead actresses Eiman Yousif and Siran Riak, and Nazar Goma.

The film is also currently competing at the Septimius Awards, where it is in the running for Best African Actress, Best African Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Soundtrack.

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 the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Freedom Prize.

Performing admirably in the cinematic zeitgeist, the film garnered rave reviews after its premiere, with Screen Daily praising the film saying: “Kordofani proves that it is possible to bear witness to history in a place rarely depicted on screen,” while Hollywood Reporter described the film as “an operatic drama that nimbly tackles the story of a fractured Sudan.”

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.