7 Best Movies from Sudan to Watch First

7 Essential Films from Sudan

Ranked native cinema in Sudan’s own creative voice.

1. 

   1. You Will Die at 20

   ستموت في العشرين · 2019

   When a village holy man prophesies that a newborn boy will die at twenty, his father flees in despair and his mother raises him in fearful, smothering piety. As the fatal birthday nears, the young man begins to question the curse and yearn to truly live. A luminous Sudanese drama.

2. 

   2. Talking About Trees

   2019

   Four elderly Sudanese filmmakers, friends since their youth, dream of reopening a derelict cinema and reviving movie-going in a country where public film has all but vanished, battling bureaucracy and a suspicious regime. A warm, wistful documentary about the love of cinema.

3. 

   3. Goodbye Julia

   وداعًا جوليا · 2023

   In Khartoum, on the eve of South Sudan's secession, a guilt-ridden northern Sudanese woman takes in the southern widow of a man whose death she helped cover up, and the two women's fragile bond mirrors a country tearing apart. A powerful, award-winning drama.

4. 

   4. Tajouj

   تاجوج · 1977

   This historical romance dramatizes the legendary Sudanese love story of Tajouj, whose devotion and the poetry it inspired passed into folklore. The first feature directed by a Sudanese filmmaker.

5. 

   5. Beats of the Antonov

   2014

   This documentary visits communities in Sudan's war-torn borderlands who, under the constant threat of government bombers, hold onto their spirit and identity through music. A stirring portrait of resilience and culture under fire.

6. 

   6. aKasha

   2018

   During a lull in a Sudanese civil war, a rebel soldier torn between his sweetheart and his beloved rifle goes AWOL, sparking a comic, wandering day as the army tries to round up its scattered fighters. A charming, offbeat war comedy.

7. 

   7. Khartoum

   2025

   Forced to flee Sudan when war breaks out, five ordinary residents of Khartoum — among them a civil servant, a tea seller, and two young bottle collectors — reenact their harrowing stories of survival and escape. A bold hybrid documentary.