Award-winning filmmaker Hajooj Kuka and four other artists were sentenced to prison for two months by a Sudanese court in Khartoum on Thursday, leading rights groups and the international film community to call for their release.
Kuka is known for his films Beats of the Antonov and Akasha, the latter of which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2018. This year, he was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which awards the Oscars.
He, along with artists Abdelrahman Mohamed, Ayman Khalafallah, Ahmed El Sadig and Dua Tareg, were charged with public disturbance and violating public safety measures. They have also been fined 5,000 Sudanese pounds ($90) each.
Their case goes back to August, when the artists held a rehearsal with the Civic Lab art collective at a cultural centre in Khartoum. Neighbours complained about the noise, which eventually escalated into a fight.
The artist’s lawyer Othman Al Basry has stated to the Associated Press (AP) that one of the neighbours physically attacked Tarig while others threw stones at the artists and staff. Police forces arrested a total of 11 artists at the scene.
Tariq also claimed that an officer at the police station slapped her when she protested his taking her photo with his personal mobile phone.
Kuka wrote a tweet about the incident on August 13, stating, “We got attacked during a theatre workshop… by Islamists instigators. The police stood by the attackers and arrested us,” adding “Is there any support for artists or do we need to get killed first?”
I am an academy member. We got attacked during a theater workshop in #khartoum by islamists instigators. The police stood by the attackers and arrested us. Now we are awaiting trial. Is there any support for #artists or do we need to get killed first? pic.twitter.com/tFRRoff0Ch
— hajooj kuka (@hajooj) August 13, 2020
All four artists have been vocal supporters of last year’s pro-democracy revolution in Sudan, which led to the toppling of President Omar Al Bashir in April 2019. Kuka was arrested in February 2019 during the mass protests that swept the country for months.
Sudan is now under a military-civilian government, with elections to take place in late 2022.
On Friday, a video emerged online showing the artists in prison chanting slogans used during the uprising.
Here they are in jail. @hajooj is an award winning director & academy award member. police say the charge is disturbance. However, During the arrest a policeman slapped a girl unconscious because she told him not to film her and the guys stood up to him. that’s their real charge https://t.co/t4Vqn97uxZ pic.twitter.com/jZRl2amyMc
— ود البيه (@khalidalbaih) September 18, 2020
Their arrests have sparked criticism from activists, social media users and rights organisations that see their arrest as characteristic of the Al Bashir era.
“The judiciary system continues to be heavily influenced by the militant Islamist ideology of the ex-regime, which criminalised freedom of association and arts and undermined the existence of women in the public sphere,” said the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa, or SIHA to AP.
Names from the film industry have also voiced their concerns. Cameron Bailey and Joana Vicente, who head up the Toronto International Film Festival, have called for the artists’ release. Bailey wrote in a tweet on Friday: “Hajooj Kuka is an exceptional filmmaker… Now he’s been jailed in Sudan. We need to make some noise about this.”
Hajooj Kuka is an exceptional filmmaker. His last two films, Beats of the Antonov and Akasha, played at our Festival. He was recently invited to join @TheAcademy. Now he’s been jailed in Sudan. We need to make some noise about this. https://t.co/EmrIjXukwd
— Cameron Bailey (@cameron_tiff) September 18, 2020
In a statement on Monday, the Berlin Film Festival said that “joins the international protest against the arrest of Sudanese filmmaker Hajooj Kuka and four other artists. The group of artists has been randomly charged with causing a public nuisance.”
The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) and the European Film Academy, among others, have also condemned the artists’ imprisonment.