Screening Sudan

In the face of erasure and fragmentation, film emerges as a vital tool for preserving memory, bearing witness to violence, articulating loss, and envisioning collective futures. This panel explores how documentary and narrative cinema alike capture the affective and political dimensions of Sudanese life, creating space for alternative archives and public dialogue. Positioning cinema as both a cultural record and a language of storytelling, this panel features a discussion with filmmakers and researchers working to promote representations of Sudan through cinema.

Speakers:

Eiman Hussein is a psychotherapist, supervisor, and writer/poet. The daughter of the late Hussein Shariffe, she is dedicated to preserving and curating his expansive legacy through various projects. Since 2023, she has been a Visiting Research Associate in the Department of Film Studies at King’s College London, where she collaborates with Dr. Erica Carter and other scholars on archiving and preserving Shariffe’s works. With a background rooted in Medicine and Public Health, she brings over sixteen years of experience in the charity and NGO sector, working on women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights, especially anti-FGM advocacy, and trauma-informed care. She is currently a Visiting Research Associate in the Department of Film Studies at King’s College London.

Suzi Mirgani is the Editor/Assistant Director for Publications at CIRS, Georgetown University in Qatar. She oversees the Center’s publications and researches the intersection of politics and popular culture. She is author of Target Markets: International Terrorism Meets Global Capitalism in the Mall (Transcript 2017) and editor of Informal Politics in the Middle East (Oxford University Press 2020) and Art and Cultural Production in the Gulf Cooperation Council (Routledge 2018), among other volumes. Her recent publications include “Peeking behind the Curtain: Gulf Filmmakers Imagine the Lives of Female Migrant Domestic Workers in the Arabian Peninsula” (2023) and “Consumer Citizenship: National Identity and Museum Merchandise in Qatar” (2019). Her creative work includes poetry, “Some Behavioral Characteristics of the Sudanese Honey Bee (Apis mellifera sudanensis),” Mizna 23, no. 2 (2022), and films: Cotton Queen (2025); Kamala Ishag: States of Oneness (2022); and Al-Sit (2020).

Rafa Renas is a Sudanese multimedia producer, director, and social activist. She produces cross-media campaigns, promoting civil society, integration, and gender issues. In response to the lack of media coverage on Sudan’s war, she co-founded Aflam Sudan, a traveling film festival that showcases Sudanese stories across East Africa and the Gulf. She co-directed the documentary The Spider-Man of Sudan, and is a producer for international media outlets. She has collaborated with prestigious global media outlets such as ARTE, DW, France 24, BBC, The Guardian, and Pulitzer. Her expertise lies in bringing powerful stories to the forefront, highlighting social issues and giving voice to the often-unheard perspectives in conflicts.

Moderator:

Bentley Brown is a filmmaker and scholar whose work revolves around disidentification, language, and artistic translations of science. A Berlinale Talent, Durban Talent, and Africa Movie Academy Awards nominee, his past films include Guardian of the Well (True/False 2025), Revolution From Afar (PBS AfroPoP 2022), and Oustaz (Berlinale 2016). His film Faisal Goes West was the opening night film of the inaugural Sudan Independent Film Festival in Khartoum in 2014. He currently teaches as an Assistant Professor in Media Communication at the American University of Sharjah.