France, Tunisia, Arabic - 90 min
alice.ormieres@gmail.com
Shajane, Maha, Muzamil, Rufaida, and the voice of the poet Chaikhoon are the characters in the film. They are Sudanese in their twenties, politically active and artistically creative. This film is a cinematic chorus, the collective portrait of a generation fighting for freedom with their words, poems and chants. Faced with a corrupt army guilty of war crimes in Darfur, Kordofan and Blue Nile, these individuals had every reason to lose faith. Without the dream guiding them and the might of poetic discourse, they could never have overthrown the former regime. Since I met them on the revolutionary sit-in that lasted 57 days at the Army headquarters in Khartoum, I’ve been filming every step of their journey. They survived the 3rd of June 2019 massacre - when the army attacked the sit-in, killing hundreds of people in just a few hours. They resisted the military coup of October 2021, until the war started, causing death and destruction everywhere, forcing them to take the roads of exile.
In Sudan, people recite poetry as easily as they breathe. For the Sudanese it’s a tool of resistance. Poetry emerges in conversations, in demonstrations, on walls. These “epic poems” are written as history is made. As a filmmaker, I am a translator. As I pursued my quest to translate this beautiful poetry, I perceived the outlines of a new post-Islamist era. During Sudan’s thirty years of dictatorship, religion was used to control daily life. The Sudanese revolutionaries in the film and hundreds of others now reject this. They believe that faith is a private matter. The new generation is campaigning for freedom of conscience as described in this famous poem: “They kill us in the name of religion. But Islam tells us: rise up against tyrants! A bullet does not kill. Silence does.” Sudan is at the crossroads of worlds that I have frequented since childhood. My mother left Morocco and my father Tunisia in the seventies to escape dictatorship, searching for freedom in France. It’s been three generations of attempting decolonization to change oppressive regimes in Africa and the Middle East, largely still in vain. This film is about how to face this impossible change.
This film is the second feature documentary by French-Tunisian director Hind Meddeb. Her previous film, "Paris Stalingrad", produced by Abel Nahmias (Echo Films), was shown at Cinéma du Réel and Toronto Film Festival, before winning numerous selections and awards around the world. It was released in French cinemas in May 2021. "Sudan When Poems Fall Apart" is produced by Abel Nahmias (Echo Films), Michel Zana and Alice Ormières (Blue Train Films) in France, and Tao Guiga (My Way) in Tunisia. The provisional budget is $474,271 and 64% of the financing is already secured. It will be distributed by Dulac Distribution in France. The film is currently in the editing phase, with image editor Gladys Joujou. We are currently looking for international sales agents, MENA distributors and financing partners to close the budget and finish the post-production of the film, for a delivery late 2023 - early 2024.
Created in 2010 and directed by Abel Nahmias, ECHO FILMS has produced a dozen films, including successful mainstream comedies, such as “La Beuze” and “The 11 Commandments” both by François Desagnat and Thomas Sorriaux, "20 Years Apart" by David Moreau, and arthouse documentaries such as “Paris Stalingrad” by Hind Meddeb.
Based in Paris, BLUE TRAIN FILMS was created by Michel Zana (also head of Dulac Distribution and Dulac ProductionsIn) in 2017. The company has produced “Only Silence”, a short film by Lebanese director Katia Jarjoura, and is currently co-producing Hind Meddeb’s documentary “Sudan, When Poems Fall Apart”.