“Just help us bring down this system… we don’t need anything else.”
Director Hajooj Kuka paints an arresting portrait of a people who, despite having lost nearly everything in the conflict in Sudan, continue to survive and celebrate their heritage.
The separation of Sudan into two sovereign states has not ended the longest civil war in the African continent. For the past two years, the inhabitants of the Blue Nile and Nuba Mountain regions been subject to ongoing bombing raids by the North Sudanese government, which targets civilians indiscriminately. But after a raid, it is not unusual to hear laughter and music ring out from these communities — not just out of relief that lives have been spared, but also as a defiant means of safeguarding a collective identity.
Interweaving the speaking and singing of militants, intellectuals and everyday folk, Beats of the Antonov reverses conventional representations of victimhood and reveals an alternative narrative of tenacity and resilience.
NOTE: Contains semi-graphic imagery of a wounded militant.
This film is supported by the Bertha Film Fund, IDFA Bertha Fund.
