France, Sudan, Germany, Chad and Qatar / 2019 / 94mins / Documentary / Arabic

Ibrahim Shaddad, Manar Al Hilo, Suleiman Mohamed Ibrahim, and Altayeb Mahdi have been filmmakers and friends for more than 45 years. In 1989, they formed the Sudanese Film Group, an independent collective that was suspended soon after its founding when a military coup established an Islamist dictatorship in Sudan. Nearly three decades later, they’ve reunited to resurrect their old dream: to make cinema a reality in Sudan. Talking About Trees chronicles their efforts to revive a defunct movie theater in the city of Omdurman in the face of religious censorship and inefficient bureaucracy.

Suhaib Gasmelbari

Suhaib Gasmelbari was born in 1979 in Sudan. He studied Cinema in France at the University of Paris VIII. He has written and directed several short films, both fiction and documentary. Talking About Trees is his first feature film. He is also a researcher with a special focus on audio-visual archives. Through his research he was able to find some long-lost Sudanese films, and actively participates in international and local projects for saving and digitizing Sudanese films, including those of Ibrahim Shaddad, Suleiman Mohamed Ibrahim and Altayeb Mahdi. Learn More