GOODBYE JULIA

Name: GOODBYE JULIA
Genre: Drama
Released: 2023
Duration: 120 min

Director: Mohamed Kordofani

Rights:

Highlights

World premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard, going on to win the festival’s Freedom Prize
Sudan’s official submission to the Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film
Produced by acclaimed Sudanese filmmaker Amjad Abu Alala, director of Venice prizewinner YOU WILL DIE AT TWENTY
The first Sudanese director and film to participate in the history of the Cannes Film Festival
Executive produced by Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o

2023/ Sudan, Egypt, Germany, France, KSA, Sweden120 min/ Drama

Original Title

وداعا جوليا

SYNOPSIS

Wracked by guilt after covering up a murder, Mona — a northern Sudanese retired singer in a tense marriage — tries to make amends by taking 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.

CAST

Eiman Yousif
Siran Riak
Nazar Goma
Ger Duany

CREW

Written and directed by Mohamed Kordofani
DOP: Pierre de Villiers
Editor: Heba Othman
Music Producer & Composer: Mazin Hamid
Sound Engineer: Rana Eid
Costume Designer: Simba Elmur
Production Designer: Issa Kandil
Producer: Amjad Abu Alala
Co-Producer: Mohammed Alomda
Co-Producers: Baho Bakhsh, Safei Eldin Mahmoud, Michael Henrichs, Khaled Awad, Mohamed Kordofani, Marc Irmer, Faisal Baltyuor, Ali Elarabi, Adham El Sherif, and Issraa Elkogali Häggström

Production Company(ies)

Station Films
Red Star Films
Die Gesellschaft DGS
Klozium Studios
Dolce Vita Films
Cinewaves Films
Ambient Light
CULT
RiverFlower
MAD Solutions
Red Sea
CANAL+ International

Cannes Film Festival (Un Certain Regard), France (World Premiere)

Karlovy Vary International Film, Czech Republic

BFI London Film Festival, UK

Melbourne International Film Festival, Australia

The Border Mail International Film Festival, Australia

BOFA Film Festival Tasmania, Australia

Vancouver International Film Festival, Canada

Darwin International Film Festival, Australia

Arab Film Nights, Denmark

El Gouna International Film Festival, Egypt

Warsaw Film Festival, Poland

European Film Festival, South Africa

Paysages de Cinéastes, France

Septimius Awards, Netherlands

War on Screen Film Festival, France

Belfast Film Festival, Northern Ireland

Cyprus International Film Festival, Cyprus

Muslim International Film Festival, Canada

Mostra de Cinema Arab, Spain

Singapore International Film Festival, Singapore

Africa Rising International Film Festival, South Africa

Freedom Prize, Un Certain Regard, Cannes Film Festival

Audience Award, Paysages de Cinéastes

Youth Jury Award, Paysages de Cinéastes

Women's Jury Award, Paysages de Cinéastes

Best African Film, Septimius Awards

Press Jury Award, War on Screen Film Festival

Audience Award, War on Screen Film Festival

Roger Ebert Award, Chicago International Film Festival

Best Film, Belfast Film Festival

Best Director in a Debut Feature Film, Cyprus International Film Festival

Best Leading Actress Award, Cyprus International Film Festival

Best Actress Award, Muslim International Film Festival

Excellence Award, Muslim International Film Festival

Audience Award, Mostra de Cinema Arab

Reviews

“A gut-wrenching and emotionally rewarding tale of religious persecution compounded by entrenched racism.”

Screen Daily

“There is an even greater historic significance to Goodbye Julia, in which two women — one from the North, the other from the South — are brought together by fate in a complex relationship.”

Variety

“This drama about guilt examines the relationship between Sudanese from the north and those from the south.”

Festival de Cannes

Quotes

“Kordofani proves that it is possible to bear witness to history in a place rarely depicted on screen."
Screen Daily

“Kordofani’s fine direction balances the film’s multiple modes: It’s a drama, with shades of a thriller and a sense of its own politics.”
Hollywood Reporter

“Kordofani offers up wonderful snapshots, overviews and explanations of all the nuances of the acute Sudanese situation of the time”
Cineuropa

“Goodbye Julia is not focused on Sudan’s recent history, but rather on the events leading up to the 2011 South Sudanese Independence referendum.”
Deadline

Press Material (Downloadable)

Cannes Gallery