Khartoum – Cinema halls in Sudan have reopened after they were closed during the ruling of former President Omar al-Bashir.
Sudan’s Culture and Information Minister, Faisal Mohamed Saleh, told Xinhua on Tuesday that there was a great cultural movement prevailing in the country.
A group of young men, to revive the traditional cinema industry in Sudan, launched a number of initiatives to encourage movie production, organise training programmes, and renovate the cinema production infrastructures as well as the cinema halls.
The revolution has offered the young men great expectations, where they now have greater ambitions.
Report says these are positive atmospheres that enhance creativity in all the cultural aspects.
Abdel-Rahman Mohamed Abdel-Rahman, deputy chairman of Sudanese Filmmakers Association, told Xinhua that “life has started to return to the cinema sector in Sudan due to success of December movement and the positive atmosphere that followed.’’
The return of cinema houses has received wide appreciation by the audience who go back to cinema to watch movies after years of absence.
“I’m about 21 years old now and I have watched only one play in my entire life,” Qanwan Malik, a dentistry student, told Xinhua.
“It is apparent that cinema has started to recover and will be back the way it used to be.
“We hope these popular initiatives will transform into a joint work between the State and the civil society organizations,” she noted.
Sudan’s cinema industry has a long history.
“Al Neelain” movie was the first film to be pictured in the country in 1910. In 1924, the first cinema hall was established in capital Khartoum.
The Sudanese army ousted former President Omar al-Bashir on April 11 amid popular protests that erupted in December 2018.
(Xinhua/NAN)
