Al Dhareeh

The Tomb

Forum Expanded 2019

During the late seventies and early eighties, a group of filmmakers who were then the staff of the Cinema Section at the Department of Culture issued a periodical named CINEMA. This same group then founded the Sudanese Film Group (SFG) in April 1989 to give them more independence from the state. The purpose of the group was to be fully engaged in all aspects of film production, screening, and teaching, as well as maintaining the passion of the Sudanese for the cinema. But on June 30, 1989 the coup d’état, which brought with it a suspicion of all forms of art, terminated any cultural aspirations and banned all civic society organizations. Finally in 2005 the heavy hand of the state was loosened somewhat, and the SFG was able to re-register.
Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art digitally restored seven works by these Sudanese filmmakers in 2018. Al Dhareeh (1977) by Eltayeb Mahdi, one of the founders of the SFG, tells the story of a man who claims to be able to heal people.

by Eltayeb Mahdi
with Abu Bakr John, A-Sir Qudur, Ismail Satti, Tharwat Aloub, Abdel Da'em Omer Egypt 1977 Arabic 17’ Black/White

With

Abu Bakr John
A-Sir Qudur
Ismail Satti
Tharwat Aloub
Abdel Da'em Omer

Crew

Written and Directed by	Eltayeb Mahdi
Cinematography	Hisham al-Maleh
Editing	Mohamed Kheir Arab
Sound Design	Adel al-Wakil
Set Design	Abdul-Ilah Farhud
Assistant Director	Manar Elhilo
Production Manager	Othman Akef
Restoration	Arsenal – Institut für Film und Videokunst

Produced by

High Latitudes

Higher Institute for Cinema

Eltayeb Mahdi

The multi-award-winning filmmaker graduated with a degree from the Higher Institute of Cinema in Cairo in 1976. He has produced film music for several internationally award-winning films and was head of the Sudanese Film Group for a number of years. The author of numerous articles on cinema for major Sudanese newspapers, he is currently working on the feature film al-Siraj wal-attama (The Lantern and Darkness).

Filmography

1976 Al Dareeh (The Tomb); 17 min. 1979 Arba`a marat lil atfal (Four Times for Children); 17 min. 1989 Al Mahatta (The Station); 17 min. 2008 Iyal almatmora; 21 min. 2013 Humaid; 70 min.

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2019