Mohamed Kordofani’s Goodbye Julia, which became the first Sudanese feature to ever play at Cannes earlier this year, has achieved another first following its release across the Gulf.
The film has recorded box office of $349,000 from 27,000 admissions following its release by MAD Solutions in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain on December 7 and in the UAE on December 14 across a total of 84 screens. This is a record for a non-Egyptian or non-Saudi arthouse film in the GCC.
Saudi accounted for 40% of total takings from 37 screens while the UAE represented 30% of revenues from 27 screens.
Cairo-based MAD Solutions partnered with VOX Cinemas to theatrically release the feature, which was selected as Sudan’s submission for the Oscars but did not make the recently announced shortlist.
It follows a bumper release in Egypt, where the film topped the box office when it opened on October 25, ahead of Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon. It has since become the highest grossing Arab film at the Egyptian box office, taking nearly $100,000 (EGP3m) to date. It is also on its seventh week of release in France through ARP Selection, which opened the film in 51 theatres.
MAD Solutions co-founders Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab told Screen: “Goodbye Julia is an ideal example that Arab audiences are ready to explore more Arab films outside of just Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
“We appreciate that VOX Cinemas took this risk with us… and their support and cooperation have been vital to the film’s success so far, allowing it to have a deep impact on audiences and break new ground in the world of Arab filmmaking.”
Toni El Massih, managing director of cinemas at VOX-owner Majid Al Futtaim Entertainment, said of taking Goodbye Julia across the Gulf: “Having gained critical acclaim and amassed multiple awards at prestigious international film festivals, we are confident that this poignant human drama will captivate audiences across the region.”
Following its world premiere at Cannes, where it played in Un Certain Regard and won the Freedom Prize, Goodbye Julia has gone on to amass more than 20 awards at festivals including El Gouna and Singapore.
The film follows the story of Mona — a northern Sudanese retired singer in a tense marriage — who is wracked by guilt after covering up a murder. In an bid to make amends, she takes in the deceased’s southern Sudanese widow and son into her home but is unable to confess
The film stars Eiman Yousif, Sudanese supermodel Siran Riak in her first on-screen role, Nazar Goma and Ger Duany. Written and directed by Kordofani, it is produced by Station Films’ Amjad Abu Alala, the Sudanese director of You Will Die At Twenty – winner of Venice’s Lion of the Future award in 2019 and Sudan’s first-ever Oscars submission – in collaboration with producer Mohamed Al-Omda, co-producer of Berlinale title The Burdened.
Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o joined as an executive producer last month to support the release of the film.
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