Talking About Trees

The first feature of Suhaib Gasmelbari recounts the efforts of a group of Sudanese filmmakers – who have lived through «three dictatorships and three democracies » – to re-open a theatre on the outskirts of Khartoum. Ibrahim Shaddad, Manar Al Hilo, Suleiman Mohamed Ibrahim and Altayeb Mahdi all made films in the 1970s and 1980s, now part of a forbidden or lost cultural heritage and whose remnants are again brought to light by this documentary. Through their film club, the members of this brotherly quartet convey their passion to a population that no longer has the opportunity to see films in theatres. Gasmelbari observes them in the light of the full moon, taunting the darkness, and recognises the moving perseverance of these elderly youngsters’ motivation. Aisha Rahim