Mohamed Kordofani, Writer-Director of Sudanese Oscar Entry ‘Goodbye Julia,’ on Racism, Teargas and Thinking Big
variety.comJohn Bleasdale Guest Contributor When writer-director Mohamed Kordofani first conceived of the film “Goodbye Julia,” he realized that he didn’t have a single friend from South Sudan — “and there are millions who live in Khartoum.” Now he has hundreds, he tells Variety.
The first Sudanese film to premiere in the Un Certain Regard sidebar in Cannes, his debut feature won the Prix de la Liberté and is now the official Sudanese entry for the Academy Awards, with Lupita Nyong’o on board as an executive producer.
The film had its Middle East and North Africa premiere this week at El Gouna Film Festival, where Kordofani was awarded the Variety MENA Region Talent Award.
Originally trained as an aircraft engineer, Kordofani had an epiphany while working in the Gulf which proved to be the genesis for the film: “My wife was pregnant with my second daughter and we needed a maid.
Read more on variety.com
