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Sundance 2025 Review: Khartoum – “an endearing and authentic presentation.”

Refugees from Khartoum, Sudan recount and reenact their life before, during, and after the civil war.

What began as a project to profile the lives of a civil servant, a tea lady, resistance committee volunteer and two adolescent bottle collectors in the Sudan got interrupted when a civil war erupted which logistically and visually significantly altered the documentary; production had to be completed elsewhere with greenscreen and the five participants helping each other to reenact their stories. The footage of daily routines before the unrest is quite dramatic when combined the subsequent displacement scenes because of the stark contrast.

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There is a roughness to proceedings that is fully embraced by the filmmakers which makes for an endearing and authentic presentation; this approach also allows for each of the storylines, which are handled by a different director, to feel part of a cohesive whole. The viewer gets to see what happens behind the scenes and there is a sense of irony as those being profiled demonstrate a spirit of cooperation which is fatally lacking in their homeland. Filling in the narrative gaps are amateurish visual effects which are easily forgiven as they fit into the dreamscape aesthetic that places more value on surrealism than photorealism. Even though there is much sadness an element of hope prevails which is due to strength of the human spirit on display.

The 2025 Sundance Film Festival takes place January 23 to Feb. 2  2025, in person and online, and for more information visit sundance.org.

Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada; he can be found at LinkedIn.

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