'Goodbye Julia' tells the story of two women who represent the complicated relationship and differences between northern and southern Sudanese communities.
Sudanese director Mohamed Kordofani’s debut feature Goodbye Julia, a laureate of the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard Freedom Prize, screened at this year’s edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
Goodbye Julia has been nominated for a Pravo Audience Award, which will be handed out in the closing ceremony of the festival.
A Q&A session followed the third screening of the film, during which the film’s director discussed the making of the film, and the themes covered in Goodbye Julia.
Goodbye Julia 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 Miss South Sudan — Nazar Goma, and Ger Duany, is written and directed by Kordofani, and produced by Station Films’ Sudanese filmmaker Amjad Abu Alala in collaboration with Mohamed Al-Omda. Meanwhile, MAD Solutions is handling worldwide sales and distribution.
Goodbye Julia won the MAD Ergo award at the CineGouna SpringBoard that was held at the fourth edition of the El Gouna Film Festival, in addition to Best Film Project in the Development Phase ($15,000), a certificate from the El Gouna Cinema Platform, and the New Century Prize ($10,000). The film 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 and Beirut’s Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC).
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.
