‘Goodbye Julia’ named Sudan’s official submission for 96th Academy Awards®

Mohamed Kordofani’s Goodbye Julia was just named Sudan’s official submission for Best International Film at the 96th Academy Awards.

The acclaimed Sudanese title is scheduled to be released in Egyptian theaters on October 25th, after its Arab World premiere at the El Gouna Film Festival, which 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.
Goodbye Julia was featured at the Horizons Section of the 2023 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival after its historic world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Freedom Prize.
Goodbye Julia stars Eiman Yousif, Siran Riak — the former Ms. South Sudan — Nazar Goma, and Ger Duany; it was written and directed by Kordofani; and produced by Station Films’ Sudanese filmmaker Amjad Abu Alala — in collaboration with producer Mohamed Al-Omda.

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 the country’s potential for investment.