Oxfam Novib: Sudan, Remember Us

In the film, we follow a movement led by young Sudanese activists, artists and street poets who oppose military rule. In the four years since the removal of dictator Omar al-Bashir, their belief in a better future remains unshaken, but at the same time the country is sinking into repression and civil war. In the post-screening talk in partnership Oxfam Novib, we talk to the film’s activist Ahmed Muzamil and filmmaker Hind Meddeb.

‘If you give up the struggle, you lose your humanity’: it’s one of the maxims of a group of optimistic and resilient Sudanese activists and artists. Filmmaker Hind Meddeb meets them for the first time in 2019, while the capital Khartoum is brimming with hope. The revolution that ended 30 years of dictatorship by Omar al-Bashir, has led to an explosion of joy. At the front lines are young people yearning for democracy, freedom and an end to (religious) oppression and tribalism. ‘Now we can take back the country,’ says Shajane, a female activist. A sign at a roadblock reads: ‘Sorry for the delay – uprooting a regime.’

But in the years that follow, military rule establishes itself tighter and tighter. Still, Muzamil, Maha, Shajane and Khatab remain positive and combative. Instead of violence, they use the power of art, songs and poetry to achieve their goals – like the powerful poems of Khatab, and Muzamil’s beautiful murals. ‘Rather than demanding revenge, people demand their rights,’ activist Ahmed Muzamil says after a brutal massacre at a peaceful sit-in. ‘So those beautiful young souls didn’t die for nothing.’ But when Ahmed is arrested, the group’s faith takes a serious hit.