'Al-Sit' is written and directed by Suzannah Mirghani, who co-produced it with Eiman Mirghani.
Sudanese short film Al-Sit has received the SUDU Prize for Best Short Film at the Quibdó Africa Film Festival.
The movie has received 23 international awards to top the 2021 list of best short Arab films. Previously, receiving three awards from Oscar-qualifying festivals, Al-Sit is now one of the most notable nominees for the Academy Awards.
Al-Sit is written and directed by Suzannah Mirghani, who co-produced it along with Eiman Mirghani, and stars Mihad Murtada, Rabeha Mohammed, Mohammed Magdi and Haram Basher.
Suzannah Mirghani said: “We made this film with a 99% Sudanese cast and crew and 1% Lebanese. In fact, filmmaking in Sudan is finally beginning to flourish after decades of prohibition and neglect. Sudan is overflowing with talent, but there is little opportunity to show it. We hope the film will continue its successful tour across the international festivals.”
In a cotton-plantation village in Sudan, 15-year-old Nafisa has a crush on Babiker, but her parents have arranged her marriage to Nadir, a young Sudanese businessman who lives abroad. Nafisa’s grandmother Al-Sit, the powerful village matriarch, has her own plans for Nafisa’s future. But can Nafisa choose for herself?
The film presents a sentimental story that revolves around Sudanese women, the powerful and the vulnerable while shedding the light on both ends of the social chain as well as the changes imposed by modernity on Sudanese Society.
The film is distributed in the Arab world by MAD Solutions and has previously received a development workshop and a production grant from Doha Film Institute, as well as a design grant from VCUarts Qatar.
Suzannah Mirghani is a writer, researcher, and a passionate independent filmmaker with a special interest in highlighting stories from the Arab world. Being of multicultural Sudanese and Russian backgrounds, Suzannah is interested in stories that examine the complexity of identity. She has under her belt a number of short films that she wrote, directed and produced, including Hind’s Dream (2014), Caravan (2016).
SUDU Connexion Corner Competition is made up of thematic programmes, highlighting the originality and style of the short films, in which they are eligible to win the SUDU Prize.
