Doha Film Institute
Against the backdrop of an intensifying war, a family attempts to make a decision about whether to stay or whether to go. Without access to electricity, Najma has to rely on the sun to find the right time to see Ziyad.
"Amidst the uncertainty of an escalating military conflict in Khartoum, on what might be her family’s last day in their home, 19-year-old Najma’s primary focus is to reach her not-quite-boyfriend, Ziyad. As her world collapses around her, she searches for something stable—for time, for connection, for a next day, hour, or even minute. She finds solace in the sun’s rays moving through her home, clinging to moments of fleeting normalcy. With the neighbourhood cut off from electricity, cell service, and internet, Najma embarks on a quest to find something she hasn’t seen in a long time: a functioning clock. Her determination finally leads her to their meeting spot, but the question remains—will Ziyad be there? Will it be goodbye? "

Credits

Director
Atheel Elmalik
Screenwriter
Atheel Elmalik
Producer
Terence Nance, Mariama Bonetti, Laetitia Walendom
Production Company
BLK MTR
Cast
Casting process not started yet. We are currently exploring countries where it makes sense for production to happen, given the situation in Sudan. Depending on where we land (current top contenders are Egypt and Kenya), we will either cast within the country or explore flying people in depending on funding and official visa and travel requirements/restrictions. The countries listed below are the other countries we are currently considering. Qatar is listed as a country of production because the script was developed/written through DFI's short scripts lab, and also gained a lot of significant support through its participation in Qumra.

About the Director

Atheel Elmalik
Atheel is a Sudanese writer and filmmaker interested in exploring liberated relationships of people to land and to one another through stories of movement and migration, intergenerational healing, and connection to the sentience of the more-than-human world. Atheel graduated from Stanford University with a degree in Anthropology and a Visual Studies concentration. She worked in the Media and Perfo
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