Al-Sit

Kudos to the makers!

A great short film giving you a glimpse of rural area life in Sudan... Cinematography, acting, story, sets all highlights of the film... The character of Al-Sit is quite intense and shows complexity... Innocent Nafisa and her family look like a real life family from a Sudanese village. Even though I have never been to Sudan but it does give the feel of real life... Every character is portayed well and the acting is perfect. Attention to detail, the farm scenes and dresses of the characters... Well-Directed and perfectly captures the essence of the story in 20 mins. Looking forward to more quality films from the makers!

The atmosphere , the magical performance of Rabeha Mohammed Mahmoud, the eyes of Mihad Murtada, the reason of opposition, the profound one, of the grandmother against the marriege of young Nafisa, The feeling to see a film by Tengiz Abuladze or Sergey Paradjanov , the splendid, full of poetry end are the basic pieces of seduction in the case of this film. A film about rules, traditions, fears and love.

Greetings again from the darkness. Nafisa (Mihad Murtada) is a typical teenage girl who picks cotton daily alongside her friends in the fields of their rural Sudan community. She flirts with a local boy while her friends 'ooh and ahh' knowing that her parents have already selected Nafisa's husband.

Writer-director Suzannah Mirghani expertly captures the essence of this culture and contrasts Nafisa's total lack of say in her partner in marriage with the power wielded by the local Matriarch, Al-Sit (Rabeha Mohammed Mahmoud). Nafisa's parents have chosen Nadir (Mohammed Magdi Hassan) for their daughter because he's a successful businessman. His family is from this village, but he now lives abroad and speaks a language of revenue that no one here understands.

Filmmaker Mirghani's cast and crew are 99% Sudanese (with no acting experience), and that, along with the cinematography of Khaled Awad, give us the feeling of being present as these awkward conversations and life-altering decisions occur. We've seen the process for arranged marriages in many films, but the fascinating element here is the motivation behind Al-Sit's decision.

Aside from the great cinematography, the unique wardrobe work, the lovely locations and the flawless acting, this film is basically a story about women in Sudan. Touching on matriarchy, feminism, colonialism and power structure. We see a lady (Al-Sit the Matriarch) which is the Most powerful woman and on the other side we see Nafisa the most powerless girl. We see tradition vs modernity. We see a beautiful film. A golden piece of poetic storytelling. We see a film that NEEDS TO BE SEEN!