Sudanese director Mohamed Kordofani is intimately though indirectly linked to the conflict that erupted in South Sudan in April in a drama that reflects the “systemic racism” that led to its secession in 2011.

Premiering from a certain point of view, this powerful film is the first Sudanese feature film to say goodbye to the Croisette. Goodbye Julia has even greater historical significance as two women, one from the north and the other from the south, are brought together by fate to serve communities in northern and southern Sudan. We are building a complex relationship that seeks to be ambiguous and reconcile the differences between the two. The film shows hope that “it can be the start of a movement for reconciliation between all the Sudanese people,” Kordofani says.

Kordofani, who is from Bahrain, told the media magazine Variety about the relevance of the film and his hopes that after Cannes, Goodbye Julia will be screened in his war-torn country.

When Variety asks Kordofani about the film’s connection “with the current conflict between factions loyal to two rival generals,” the director responds with “The secession of South Sudan in my view happened because of the systematic racism and the social racism that was applied from most Northern Arabs, governments, and people toward the Southerners. And this has been the case throughout the history of Sudan. Tribalism has always been the motivation for all the decisions and all the politics in the country.”

Kordofani also responds to Variety’s following question about being able to share his film with his home country with, “I’m still tied to my country because I have a company there and I have to go back. I have to make it work again, somehow. So I am hoping that the war lets up just a little bit so that we are able to work…. just reduces a little bit, we can work.”

Goodbye Julia is set to release in mid-May 2023.