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The Throwing of Fire Director: Hussein Shariffe
Documentary film released in 1973,
About the Film: The throwing of fire is a documentary about
a tribe in Ingassena, in the southern Blue Nile. They
worshipped fire and the sun. After harvest they celebrated
by dancing and festivities and a ritual involving throwing
and burning embers on the fields. The dance is a ritual in
honour of the sun, in honour of the abundance of the sun's
largesse. The ritual is a prayer of gratitude to the sun for
a plentiful harvest. It is a fertility rite.
The film received critical acclaim when it was released in
1973. It was a short, straightforward documentary about a
remote tribal people and their time-honoured traditions.
The Dislocation of Amber
Director: Hussein Shariffe
Production: Sudanese Department of Culture
Film Unit, Sudan
Photography: Abdel Moneim Aladawy
Montage: Allan Ballard
Year: 1975
Runtime: 32 minutes
Language: Arabic
About the Film: The “Dislocation of Amber” was filmed in the
city of Suakin, a formerly flourishing port in Sudan. All
those who have previously written on Suakin admitted to the
complexity of the town as a subject. So intriguing is Suakin
that not even the origin of its name is agreed upon. Its
history is one of famine & opulence, devastation and
progress, rich trade and damage, involving colonialism. What
makes Suakin so abidingly memorable is its resilience, built
through war and conquests, the historical town is a product
of determination and competitiveness.
Today the city lies in ruins, a shadow of its former self.
Shariffe used symbols -- scorpions, seashells, and camel
caravans -- to accentuate a sense of utter desertion.
Suakin's vacant coral buildings, a naked man crucified,
slaves by the sea crouching on the beach, all lend signs to
the film. Starting from his selection of the title of the
film “Dislocation of Amber” which is self explanatory, no
amber can be dislocated, it is too difficult to do that, but
the name provides a metaphorical likeness to disassociating
beauty from ugliness and life from none.
The poems in the film were sung by the late Sudanese singer
Abdel-Aziz Dawoud providing background music.
“Only faint traces of its ancient affluence are apparent
today… a dimmed reflection in a cracked mirror; empty eyes
with the stars in a different house, laughter in another
room” Hussein Shariffe, 1974.
Tigers Are Better Looking
Director: Hussein Shariffe
Production: National Film and Television School,
Beaconsfield Studios, UK.
Scenario: Hussein Shariffe, adaptation
Photography: Pascoe Macfarlane
Montage: Clare Mussel, Alan Tyrer
Year: 1979
Runtime: 20 minutes
Language: English
About the Film: Tigers are Better Looking is an adaptation
of a short story by Jean Rhys. In the film, Shariffe directs
his view towards exile in Europe, showing the wide disparity
between North and South. The film contrasts two different
civilisations, the homeland, Sudan, and the country of
exile, Great Britain. Through poetic abstractions the
director manages to portray the strong sense of exile and
the longing for the homeland.
The film received special commendation in the Tour Festival,
France, 1980.
Not the Waters of the Moon
Director: Hussein Shariffe
Production: UNICEF.
Year: 1985
About the Film: Not the Waters of the Moon is an educational
documentary developed for UNICEF. The film is to encourage
vaccination of children in rural areas. The title of the
film was carefully selected by the Director, to explain
simply to the villagers that it is not a difficult task to
perform vaccination.
Diary in Exile
Director: Attiyat El-Abnoudi and Hussein Shariffe
Production: The Sudanese Organization for Human Rights
Year: 1993
Runtime: 52 minutes
Language: English with Arabic
About the Film: Diary in Exile is a documentary film that
uses a combination of sound, image, colour and peoples
testimonies to historically account for the period following
the fundamentalist military coup in the Sudan in 1989. This
period witnessed the migration of a staggering number of
Sudanese from their country to all parts of the World. The
Sudan became an expellant of its people.
The greater majority of Sudanese migrants headed to Egypt,
where the film was shot, there is an estimated number of 3
million Sudanese migrants to Egypt since the military coup.
Moving between different strata of Sudanese communities in
Egypt the film, through various personal testimonies, throws
light on the living conditions of ordinary people. All
provide pieces of the saga, all have taken refuge in Egypt.
All dream of returning back to Sudan, one day.
The film was premiered at the United Nations Human Rights
Conference, Vienna, in 1993.
Alwathiq
Director: Hussein Shariffe
Year: In preparation
Running Time: 90 minutes
About the Film: Al-Wathiq is the story of a Sudanese Robin
Hood –like figure, Al-Wathiq Sabah Al-Kheir who robbed the
rich and distributed his loot among the poor. Al-Wathiq
emerged on the Sudanese scene at the time of the
introduction of the Islamic Shari'a (or September) laws in
1985 by the then military ruler Jaafar Al- Nemeiri.
Al-Wathiq used to knock at poor peoples doors in the middle
of the night, bringing them food and money, when asked who
he was, he would say that he was a representative from a
humanitarian aid organization. Al- Wathiq stole expensive
cars, broke into wealthy homes, raided police stations. But
he was caught in the end. His trial lasted an hour, with
little evidence if any. He was crucified for 40 minutes
before being put to death. His funeral turned into a
political demonstration. Al-Wathiq became a legend even
during his own lifetime.
Unfortunately Al-Wathiq’s film never saw limelight as there
was no funding to complete the film.
Dawood
Director: Hussein Shariffe
Year: In preparation
Runtime: 52 minutes
Language: English with Arabic
About the Film: Dawood is a biographical documentary
documenting the life and works of the Sudanese singer
AbdelAziz Muhammed Dawood. ‘Abu Dawood’, as he was well
known as, had wanted to document and present his works in a
very different way than was exhibited in Sudanese
television. As such Ali ElMek recommended to him Hussein
Shariffe, as the best person whom will be able to do that.
Indeed in 1984, they started recording Abu Dawood. The film
was never completed following the sudden death of Abu Dawood.
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