Sara Suliman's HEROIC BODIES to screen at Cairo Opera House

release date January 28 2024

Sara Suliman’s Sudanese documentary HEROIC BODIES is set to hold a special screening that will be followed by a Q&A with the director at the Cairo Opera House on Thursday, January 11th at 6 pm as part of an evening titled ‘Addressing the Sudanese Identity in Cinematic Films’ that Egyptian film critic Shahenda Mohamed Ali will moderate.

HEROIC BODIES held its world premiere at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam and was the first Sudanese feature film to be chosen for the festival's Frontlight Section. The film then went on to screen at the Malmö Arab Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award, besides winning the Shireen Abu Akleh Best Documentary Film Award at the Jerusalem Arab Film Festival.

It was also screened at the SAFAR, Ismailia, Zanzibar, Amman, London, and Karama Beirut Human Rights film festivals, as well as Arab Film Week at Cinema Akil in the UAE.

The film — hailed by Nicole Santé of Business Doc Europe as “An important contribution to the liberation and self-determination of women in Sudan – and around the world.” — is a powerful female documentary by women, for all women resisting and fighting for an equitable place in their societies

HEROIC BODIES — which stars Aya Tariq, Yassin Raief, Ahmed Raief, and Aya Ahmed — follows Sudanese women across different eras, where ownership of their bodies was denied. However, a courageous group of women rises up, using their bodies as a form of resistance, ultimately transforming violated bodies into ‘Heroic Bodies.’

Besides being written, directed, and produced by Sara Suliman through Fenti Productions, the film was lensed by Mohammed Adlan, Mansour Ahmed Omer, Muaz Osman, Salah Abdelmahmoud, Khalid Awad, Ladan Anoushfar, Mohamed Subahi, and Faris Mohamedi, and edited by Emad Maher.

Sara Suliman is a UK-based Sudanese filmmaker, Chevening scholar, and researcher.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Ahfad University for Women in Sudan and MA in Gender Studies from SOAS, University of London, Sara is also the founder of Fenti Productions — an independent film production house.