Goodbye Julia
Directed by Mohamed Kordofani
Starring Eiman Yousif, Siran Riak, Nazar Gomaa, Ger Duany
In cinemas

Review by Barry Healy

The nation of Sudan has had a long and tortuous history, including 56 years of British colonialism. The British favoured developing the country’s north, while disregarding the people of the south, which has ultimately been disastrous for Sudan.

Following independence from Britain the country suffered a series of civil wars between the two regions fed by economic, religious and ethnic differences. Recurring military coups did not help democratic development, but a significant Communist Party developed underground.

In Goodbye Julia that history comes to life with themes of culpability, redemption, and complex human relationships.

The film is set in the final years of the North-South conflict, between 2006 and 2011. A tense truce existed as the country prepared for a referendum to decide on the secession of Southern Sudan.

During this time the two armies were united, which allowed some Southern Sudanese leaders to wield power within Khartoum. The audience’s knowledge of that is assumed by the film maker, which is confusing if the viewer is unaware of Sudanese history.

In this period the Sudanese Communist Party argued against the country’s division, while respecting the democratic right of Southerners to choose. Ultimately, the oppressive attitudes of Northern Islamists sealed Sudan’s fate and that is the essence of Goodbye Julia.

The film’s two main characters, Julia (Siran Riak) and Mona (Eiman Yousif) symbolise the two regions and through them we learn why the South Sudanese would want to separate. We witness the oppression of women and the super-oppression of Southerners, hearing the pejorative “slave” used by Northern Islamists to refer to Southerners.

This is not a simple colour-by-numbers recital of a difficult saga. This is a complex story of two women caught in an historical web which allows them agency only in the form of lying in order to survive.

Mona is the wife of a devout Muslim, middle class and relatively privileged. However, within the confines of the fortress-like family residence she is like a bird in a gilded gage, enduring a loveless relationship.

She survives psychologically by telling white lies to her husband, enacting the consciousness of Northern Sudanese who lied to themselves about how bad things were in their country while living a comparatively advantaged existence.

Through a terrible turn of events Mona is to blame for the death of a man but she can depend on her middle-class status to deflect responsibility. She doubles down on her lying to avoid facing the disturbing emotions of her guilt.

This web of dishonesty, mixed with a confusion of personal responsibility and compassion, leads her to hire Julia as her maid and thus is born an unlikely relationship. The viewer can see Mona’s lies leading to disaster as she covers one deceit with another.

While there is little on-screen violence, it looms menacingly in the background as the dramatic tension grows. It is through this lens that we see politics unfolding towards the establishment of the South Sudan state.

A subsidiary plot line gives us a glimpse into how South Sudanese child soldiers were created.

It is not until the film’s conclusion that the viewer realises that the plot has involved a hall of mirrors from the beginning. This reflects the reality of North and South Sudanese history.

Goodbye Julia is poignant, evocative, and politically charged. It is radical cinema at its best.

The trailer for Goodbye Julia can be seen here: