GOODBYE JULIA to enchant Tunisian audiences starting May 8th
10 May 2024
Having clinched the Golden Horizon Award at the esteemed Hollywood Arab Film Festival, followed by an awe-inspiring debut at the 14th Malmö Arab Film Festival, where it scooped both the Best Screenwriter Award and a Special Mention for Siran Riak — raising its tally to an impressive 30 awards — Mohamed Kordofani's Sudanese drama, GOODBYE JULIA, is set to hit Tunisian cinemas on May 8th.
In a double celebration, the Cannes Film Festival's Un Certain Regard Freedom Prize winner is poised to hold two avant-premieres: One on May 4th at Tunisia's Pathé Cinema, and the second on May 5th at the esteemed CinéMadart Theater, with the film's lead actress, Siran Riak, set to attend both screenings, adding a touch of star power to the whole affair.
After that, a constellation of prestigious Tunisian cinemas will serve as the host venues for this highly praised film. From the esteemed Pathé Multiplexe in Tunis City, Pathé Multiplexe in Azur City, and Pathé Multiplexe Mall of Sousse to L'agora la Marsa, L'agora Djerba, and CinéMadart Carthage.
Concurrently, Ciné Jamil Menzah 6, L'Hambra Zephyr la Marsa, and the artistic haven of Centre Founoun Jemmel Monastir will further extend their embrace to the film's evocative story.
Meanwhile, the film will also be playing at Ciné 350 in the heart of Downtown Tunis, the iconic Cinéma ABC, Cinéma RIO, Cinéma el Manar, Cinéma Métropole Menzel Bourguiba, and Cinéma Majestic Bizerte.
GOODBYE JULA has been enchanting audiences worldwide throughout its extensive tour of the festival circuit. From Baghdad to Pune, Ibiza and Dublin to Luxor — where it secured the Best Film Award — it has left a lasting impression on viewers.
Before that, GOODBYE JULIA mesmerized audiences at 25 international film festivals and award ceremonies, including the BFI London Film Festival, Septimius Awards, Festival Paysages de Cinéastes, and Chicago International Film Festival, and was Sudan’s official submission for Best Foreign Feature at the Academy Awards, collecting just as many awards.
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 Ms. South Sudan — Nazar Goma, and Ger Duany; is written and directed by Kordofani; and produced by Station Films’ acclaimed Sudanese filmmaker Amjad Abu Alala — the director of Sudan’s first-ever submission to the Academy Awards YOU WILL DIE AT TWENTY — in collaboration with producer Mohamed Al-Omda, who co-produced Yemen’s Berlin International Film Festival selection THE BURDENED.
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.