Goodbye Julia

AroView: An outstanding drama from Sudan about two women - a retired Muslim singer and a Southern Sudanese widow - who forge an unusual friendship across the class divide after a devastating event.

Set during the last years of a united Sudan, the film illustrates the social dynamics tied to wealth, patriarchy, religion, and skin colour that led to the separation of the South. Not unlike the personal-political cinema of Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, it presents a recognizable moral dilemma while making us a little less ignorant about a little-seen corner of the world. It’s one of the year’s best.

“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.” ~Lovia Gyarkye, Hollywood Reporter

“Intelligent, compassionate scripting ensures that the political never overwhelms the personal. Yet it also illuminates just how well the fault lines that divide a nation can map onto the rifts within a human heart divided against itself.” ~Jessica Kiang, Variety