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The Story
In a Northern Sudanese village between the desert and the Nile, a young boy, Meheimeed, enjoys a picturesque childhood.
The only thing greater than his love for village life is the deep
reverence for his Grandfather, Hajj Ahmed, a highly respected elder and prominent landowner. But Meheimeed's
blissful existence begins to unravel when he learns the painful truth
behind his Grandfather's fortune, and the cheerful old farmer who lost his own.
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A Handful of Dates, or Hifnat Tamr (حفنة تمر),
is a nostalgic coming of age story rich with cultural heritage for
generations of Sudanese. It was written in Arabic by author Tayeb Salih (Season of Migration to the North) in 1957 and published by the Lebanese Literary Journal, Hiwar, among a collection of stories titled The Wedding of Zein and Other Stories in 1964.
This is also a tribute to the late Tayeb Salih himself, who often
wrote about conflicted characters reconciling their idealized
perception of village life with its complex reality. The story complements the screen as it offers minimal
dialogue opting for a keen sense of visual lyricism to convey
the boy's emotional journey. The mythical village setting, which includes the river Nile and its natural surroundings, plays a prominent character throughout the story and provides a beautiful
backdrop for our Impressionistic approach to the Cinematography.
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Cinema and Sudan
The Team
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DIRECTOR:
Hashim Hassan is a M.F.A. Directing graduate of the American Film Institute
Conservatory in Los Angeles and a B.A. graduate of the Middle East Studies
program at UC Santa Barbara. He began his stage acting debut as Peter in The
American University of Cairo's production of Edward Albee's The Zoo Story,
continuing to act and direct stage productions for UCSB's Multi-Cultural Drama
Company. Since AFI, he’s been working as a freelance Director
and Editor.
www.hashimhassan.net
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PRODUCER: Mamdooh Salih
received his B.A. in Film Studies and Theater
from UC Santa Barbara. In college, he was president of the Multicultural
Drama Company - producing and directing shows throughout Santa Barbara. After
graduation, he started in Hollywood working on
script development and pre-production. He has worked on many major film sets such
as Steven Spielberg’s
War of the Worlds (2005).
He continues to be actively working on TV, commercial, and indie film projects.
Mamdooh is currently producing and directing TV programming at Hawthorne and El
Segundo Community Television stations.
www.aspirecinemaonline.com ![]()
SCREENWRITER: Issraa El-Kogali (M.F.A.) is a Sudanese
artist/filmmaker working with mixed media, installation art, writing, and
spoken word. Her directorial debut In Search of Hip Hop (Official Selection
Rotterdam International Film Fest-2013) continues on film festival circuits and
is featured on BBC Arabic’s Alternative Cinema program. Issraa’s
photography/film work has been exhibited in the US, UK, Brazil, Germany, South
Korea, Sweden, and Spain. An Alum of Boston University’s Screenwriting program,
Issraa completed a guest student year at Sweden’s Royal Institute of Art in
2013. She’s been a member of the Sudan Film Factory since it’s inception in
January 2010. http://www.elkogali.com/
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CINEMATOGRAPHER: Dru Mungai is a
Cinematographer based between Nairobi and Los Angeles, and a graduate of
the American Film Institute Conservatory in Los Angeles. He's worked as a
freelance news and documentary cameraman/editor in more than 20 countries
across Africa for Reuters TV, BBC, Aljazeera , CNN, and ABC for close to a
decade. His 2nd film as a D.o.P, “Togetherness Supreme”, a story about the lead
up to the post election violence in Kenya, was recognized at the 2010 Kalasha
Award (Kenya’s highest prize) for Best Cinematography as well as Best
International Film at the 2011 Santa Barbara Film Festival.
He's worked as a D.o.P on commercials, short films, and a TV series'. He
was D.o.P on a Kenyan short
film "Homecoming" directed by Jim Chuchu in Nairobi,
which screened at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
www.drumungai.com
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COMPOSER: Emerging Los Angeles-based
composer/multi-instrumentalist Dexter Story bring decades of experience to the
production team. Literally born in Hollywood, Story scored his director
brother's early independent films while working behind the scenes as a record
label marketer, talent buyer and music supervisor. His romance with world music
started in college and has lead to his current exploration of East African
culture as co-leader of the popular Southern California group Ethio Cali.
Having performed and recorded with a who's who of international artists, Story
is gearing up for the Summer 2014 release of his solo Afro grooves album.
Wondem on Plug Research Records. Film credits include: One of Us Tripped, Hurricane
Season, City Lax (documentary). http://dexterstory.weebly.com
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Meet the Author, Tayeb Salih (1929 - 2009)
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Tayeb Salih is one of the Arab world's most prized novelists, whose
preeminence stemmed from his ability to write characters torn between
East and West, often drawing from his own experience of living abroad
most of his life. He was born in the Northern Sudanese town of Kurmakol
to a family of small farmers and religious teachers. Much of his
writing deals with the complex relationships within a communal village
setting. He went on to work for the BBC's Arabic Service and later
became Director General for the Ministry of Information in Doha, Qatar
while also contributing to a London based Arabic publication,
Al-Majalla. His works reflected a search for identity as an
Arab/African, particularly within a post-colonial context, during an era
that was witnessing a rise of nationalism throughout North Africa and
the Middle East. His masterpiece, "Season of Migration to the North"
(1966), dealt with a clash of civilizations. His other notable works
include, "The Cypriot Man" and "The Wedding of Zein", made into a film
in 1976 by Kuwaiti Director Khalid Al Siddiq.
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Photo Courtesy: Qusai Akoud
The Impact
In bringing Tayeb Salih's classic coming of age story to the screen,
we're paying tribute to Sudan's rich cultural and literary heritage while
investing in the development of a greater Sudanese cinema. While this story is unique to a Sudan, it offers universal
themes that any audience can connect with.
All
of us are incredibly proud to bring this story to the screen. This is
our Love Letter to Sudan, which has experienced its share of difficulties over the years. We're excited to be a part of a new
generation of Sudanese artists and filmmakers contributing to a richer,
more vibrant Sudanese cinema. We intend to send A Handful of Dates to
Major International Film Festivals.
What's the Big Deal with Dates Anyway?
A compilation of film work from Director, Hashim Hassan