Al Mahatta: dir Eltayeb Mahdi (1989)

Sudan, late 1980s. People cross the desert on foot or cover long distances by car and truck. In Al Mahatta, Eltayeb Mahdi shows encounters at one of the large crossroads between Khartoum in the centre of the country and Bur Sudan on the Red Sea.

Eltayeb Mahdi studied in Cairo and became part of the Sudanese Film Group, which was founded with the intention of telling stories about their country and confronting young people with the realities of their homeland. Identity formation – not through the detour of referencing Europe or America, but with a view to the situation in their own country. Al Mahatta shows in a programme of Friday-evening films selected by Ose Ekore to support Efie Gallery’s current group exhibition time heals, just not quick enough (runs to 30 July).