Mohamed Kordofani — the man at the helm of the gripping Sudanese drama feature GOODBYE JULIA — was just named Variety Magazine’s MENA Talent of the Year at the sixth El Gouna Film Festival, which is running from December 14th to the 21st.
 
GOODBYE JULIA's gala premiere — staged in the picturesque Red Sea city of El Gouna, where it is competing in the festival's Narrative Feature Film Competition, vying for an El Gouna Golden Star and the Cinema for Humanity Audience Award — was attended by a constellation of prominent public dignitaries and A-list celebrities, including Yousra, Injy El-Mokadem, Hana Shiha, Amr Mansi, Ines Eldeghedi, Poussy Shalaby, Saba Mubarak, and Hadi El-Bagoury.
 
This latest honor adds to a tally of over 15 prestigious awards that the film and its cast and crew have already received throughout its festival run, affirming Kordofani's outstanding directorial abilities and the film's remarkable impact.
 
GOODBYE JULIA will have one more screening during the festival on Wednesday, December 20th at 9 pm in the Campus El Gouna Audimax.
In parallel to the film’s current stint in El Gouna, it is currently enjoying even greater success in France, where it recently debuted in 51 arthouse theaters and is currently enjoying its seventh weekend run on 67 screens nationwide.
 
GOODBYE JULIA was also released in the UAE last week, screening at 27 theatres, bringing its tally across the GCC — where it successfully held its commercial release three weeks ago in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain — to a whooping 84 theaters.
 
Since its historic commercial release in Egypt on October 25th, GOODBYE JULIA has recorded the highest revenues for an Arab film at the Egyptian box office, amassing over EGP 3m throughout its ninth-week journey since then.
 
The widely praised and acclaimed title also recently won an Audience Award at the Mostra De Cinema Arab, the top prize for Best Film at the 2023 Belfast Film Festival's International Competition, an Excellence and Best Actress Award at Canada's Muslim International Film Festival, as well as the Best Director and Best Leading Actress in a Debut Feature Film at the 18th Cyprus International Film Festival.
 
To further add to the film’s growing triumphs, Lupita Nyong'o — the Academy Award winner for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for 12 YEARS A SLAVE — who’s most known for her role as Nakia in Marvel’s BLACK PANTHER films, announced that she has joined the film’s team as the film’s executive producer in direct support of the film and its impactful story.
 
Topping it all off, Egyptian critic Mohamed Sayed Abdel Rahim — who is a member of the 2024 Golden Globe Awards’ Voting Committee — recently revealed that the film has been selected to compete for the Best Non-English Language Film Award ahead of the shortlist’s announcement in December.
 
GOODBYE JULIA — which is Sudan's official submission for Best Foreign Feature at the 2024 Academy Awards — follows the story of Mona — a northern Sudanese retired singer in a tense marriage — who is wracked by guilt after covering up a murder. In an attempt to make amends, she takes in the deceased’s Southern Sudanese widow, Julia, and her son, Daniel, into her home.
 
Unable to confess her transgressions to Julia, Mona decides to leave the past behind and adjust to a new status quo, unaware that the country’s turmoil may find its way into her home and put her face to face with her sins.
 
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.
 
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.