Sudan nominates “Goodbye Julia” for the Oscars competition
Sudan announced on Tuesday the nomination of the film “Goodbye Julia,” written and directed by Mohamed Kardofani, for the Oscar for Best International Film in the 96th edition of the prestigious cinema awards.
The film is set in Khartoum before the independence of South Sudan from the north. It follows a former singer’s attempt to cleanse herself of the guilt of killing a southern man by hosting his widow in her home and employing her as a servant to assist her.
The National Committee for Selecting the Sudanese Film nominated for the Oscars stated in a Facebook statement, “More than half of the committee members convened to accept nominations and select the Sudanese film, despite the dire circumstances the country has been experiencing since April 15th.”
The committee added, “The committee believed that the outbreak of war should not hinder artists, especially filmmakers, from exercising their rights to work and creativity, representing Sudan on international platforms, and effectively contributing to portraying a different image of war and destruction.”
Earlier this month, the committee, formed in 2020 by the Ministry of Culture, announced that it had successfully reunited 10 of its members to begin their work and review films that meet the nomination criteria.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce the initial list of films eligible for the Oscar for Best International Film competition in December, while the shortlist will be revealed in January.
The Oscars ceremony is scheduled to take place on March 10, 2024, in Los Angeles, USA.
