File: A scene from GOODBYE JULIA.
Mohamed Kordofani’s enthralling debut Sudanese drama GOODBYE JULIA is still performing admirably in Egyptian theaters, raking in more than EGP 3m across its now 12-week journey and further cementing its title as the most successful Arab film in Egyptian box-office history.
The multi-award-winning movie has also had an incredible journey throughout the GCC, earning close to half a million dollars throughout the four weeks it has been screening in the UAE.
Moreover, the film is still filling seats in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Oman.
With its proven success in the Middle East and France, GOODBYE JULIA is now poised to grace screens across Europe, Oceania, and Asia, releasing in Sweden, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Australia, New Zealand, and Taiwan by spring.
In terms of the film’s other accomplishments, aside from being the first Sudanese feature film to be selected for the Cannes Film Festival — where it won the coveted Freedom Prize after holding a historic world premiere — and winning Best African Film at the Septimius Awards, the Roger Ebert Award at the Chicago International Film Festival, Best Film at the Afrykamera Film Festival, and most recently the Cinema for Humanity Award and Variety’s MENA Talent of the Year for Mohamed Kordofani, GOODBYE JULIA has won a total of 22 awards — six of which are audience awards — and made its way to more than 20 international festivals and award ceremonies.
The film is also executive produced by Lupita Nyong'o — the Academy Award winner for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for 12 YEARS A SLAVE — who’s most known for her role as Nakia in Marvel’s BLACK PANTHER films. Additionally, it was Sudan’s official submission for Best Foreign Film at the 96th Academy 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.
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