Sudanese Cinema: Artist in Exile: Hussein Shariffe

Hussein Shariffe: Artist in Exile brings together three films by one of Sudan’s most distinctive modernist artists and filmmakers. Moving between Khartoum, London, and Cairo across his life, Shariffe left Sudan first for education and artistic training, and later lived in political exile following the 1989 coup. Like many artists of his generation, he carried Sudan with him into new forms of expression, using painting, poetry, literature, and cinema to reflect on memory, displacement, and the state of the country.

Across each film, Sheriffe offers a unique perspective on exile. A surreal meditation on the abandoned port city of Suakin, an adaptation of a Jean Rhys short story set in London, and a documentary built from the testimonies of Sudanese exiles in Egypt move between history, dream, fiction, and lived experience. Together, they trace a journey from the dislocation of place to the intimate realities of political exile.

We would like the thank the Hussein Shariffe Foundation (London), Cimateque Alternative Film Centre (Cairo), Arsenal Institute for Film and Video Art (Berlin), and the National Film and Television School (London) for supporting this session.

Programme:

- The Dislocation of Amber (1975, 32mins)

- Tigers Are Better Looking (1975, 17mins)

- Diary in Exile (1995, 55mins)