Talking About Trees
Four filmmakers come together to revive an old Sudanese cinema.
Introduction from Dr Shawn Sobers.
Sudanese director Suhaib Gasmelbari tells the story of the heroic adventure embarked on by four seasoned filmmakers (retired but not through their own volition) who want to revive cinema in a country under strict Islamic rule. It is headed up by four filmmakers: Ibrahim Shadad, Manar Al Hilo,Suleiman Mohamed Ibrahim & Atayeb Mahdi, whose evocative work is revealed in short clips throughout. Educated in film schools outside of Sudan, their work showed the influence by Soviet montage and French New Wave. Their political stance meant that many were banned or ‘lost’. Gasmelbari reveals how a government controlled by Islamic fundamentalists over three decades, has resulted in the demise of an entire film industry and heritage. Their challenges in achieving their goal, seem almost insurmountable but their story is told with the belief that film matters to a society whose government no longer contemplates the idea of freedom of expression. An important and wonderful film.
Access information can be found on the Watershed website: https://www.watershed.co.uk/visit/access
