From dreams to devastation: The Sudanese filmmakers documenting Khartoum’s lost past amid war
From dreams to devastation: The Sudanese filmmakers documenting Khartoum’s lost past amid war
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Exclusive: Through displacement, war, and the destruction of cultural heritage, a groundbreaking Sudanese documentary, aided by King’s College researchers, sheds light on the untold stories of Khartoum and its people. Lokain and Wilson are eleven and twelve years old. They spend their days collecting bottles in the hope of making their life’s biggest dream come true: buying two beautiful shirts.
![[Lokain and Wilson were recruited as slaves by militias]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/27/09/KHARTOUM_Lokain_Wilson_004.jpg)
Twenty-seven-year-old Khadmallah is a tea vendor working on the roadsides of Khartoum after arriving from the Nuba mountains. Meanwhile, Majdi, 45, is a civil servant whose work didn’t stop even when war broke out in Sudan in April 2023, plunging the country into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
![[Both participants and filmmakers were displaced following the outbreak of war]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/27/11/KHARTOUM_Jawad_003.jpg)
They are among the subjects of Khartoum, the first Sudanese film to debut at the Sundance Film Festival. Premiering on Monday (27 January), the documentary is directed by Sudanese filmmakers Anas Saeed, Rawia Alhag, Ibrahim Snoopy, Timeea M Ahmed, and Phil Cox, whose previous works include The Love Hotel and The Bengali Detective.
The film captures the vibrant lives of its subjects and the filmmakers themselves – until violence erupted halfway through production. The country is facing the world’s worst displacement crisis with over 11 million people displaced according to the International Rescue Committee. The team and participants were also displaced as the conflict spread, forcing a shift in focus. Film funds were diverted to ensure their survival during perilous escapes to safety. Archives, libraries, and museums were burned to the ground, and much of Sudan’s cultural heritage was lost forever.
