Director Hajooj Kuka immerses us in the world of the Sudanese farmers, herders and rebels of the Blue Nile and Nuba Mountain regions, who defiantly celebrate their heritage and tend their lands in the face of a government bombing campaign.

A film by Hajooj Kuka

2014, Sudan, Documentary, 65 minutes

Director: Hajooj Kuka
Country: Sudan/South Africa
Year: 2014
Language: Arabic
Runtime: 65 minutes
Rating: PG

Related: Documentary War, Music, Refugee Experience, Sub-Saharan Africa

NOTE OF THE PROGRAMMER

The separation of Sudan into two sovereign states has not prevented the longest civil war in the African continent from raging on to this day. The inhabitants of the Blue Nile and Nuba Mountain regions, having fought for the independence of South Sudan, continue to fight for their cultural, ethnic, social, and economic rights. With Beats of the Antonov, director Hajooj Kuka provides an inspiring account of how cultural heritage and creative traditions can defy the indignity of displacement.

Kuka has been documenting the farmers, herders, and rebels of the Blue Nile and Nuba Mountain areas since October 2012. For the past two years, they have had to assemble in mountain hideouts and refugee camps to find shelter from air raids waged by the Sudanese government, which targets civilians indiscriminately using Russian-made Antonov cargo planes. After a raid, it is not unusual to hear laughter and music ring out from these communities - not just out of relief that lives have been spared, but also as a means of safeguarding the community's collective memory.

Beats of the Antonov focuses on the everyday survival of people who have lost kin, homes, and livelihoods in the ongoing conflict, but instead of devastation and defeat, we discover communities emboldened to celebrate their heritage, and to improvise creative ways to continue harvesting crops and herding cattle. With inspiring lucidity, Kuka threads together the voices - speaking and singing - of militants, social workers, intellectuals, and other everyday folk, to reverse conventional representations of victimhood and reveal an alternative narrative of tenacity and resilience.
RASHA SALTI (TIFF 2014, Toronto)

Facebook.com/Beats of the Antonov
Twitter: @beatsofantonov

Director: Hajooj Kuka
Screenplay: Hajooj Kuka
Cinematographer: Hajooj Kuka
Editor: Hajooj Kuka
Music: Sudanese refugees

Producers: Steven Markovitz & Hajooj Kuka
Production Company: Refugee Club, Big World Cinema

International Sales Agent: Big World Cinema (South Africa)


Director/ Cinematographer
hajooj kuka

Producers
Steven Markovitz
hajooj kuka

Associate Producer
Megan Greeley

Editors
hajooj kuka
Khalid Shamis

Music Producer
Alsarah

Featuring (in order of appearance)
Jodah Bujud
Insaf Awad Allah
Sarah Mohamed
Seif Alislam Hagawad
Tutu Agabna Afandina
Albaqir Elafeef
Musa Abdallah Kusafa
Ibrahim Khatir Mahdi
Muna Abdallah
Rabha Awad Jagour
Yunis Elahaimar Yunis
Nisreen Nasir
Kuku Issa Kuku
Ayoub Hassan Elamin
Hawa Yasin
Ahmed Kuwa
Manal Ahmed Tutu
Awadia Tulma Tikafi
Khamisa Altom
Mansour Kalka
Alabid Faraj

Opening Graphics
Bashir Hamid

Consulting Producer
Brian Tilley

Story Consultant
Ephrem Kossaify

Consulting Editor
Erez Laufer

Additional Editing
Jari Heikkinen

Post Production Coordinator
Tamsin Ranger

Sound Designer
Barry Donnelly

Colourist
Donovan Bush

Online Editor
Emily Bussac

Translation
Ephrem Kossaify

Assistant Editor
Joe Erasmus

Post Production Assistants
Chiminae Ball
Tarha McKenzie

Additional Camera Operators
Alsadg Mohamed Adam
Yassin Hassan
Abdu Ibrahim
Azhari Joda
Ahmed Khatir
Mia Bitar

Additional Sound Recordist
Bashir Elamin

Music
Jodah Bujud
Musa Abdallah Kusafa
Muna Abdallah
Khamisa Altom
Wanwan Band
Jabir Rigalin

Special Thanks to
Rasha Salti
Toyin Ajao
Wanuri Kahiu

Executive Producers for American Documentary | POV
Simon Kilmurry
Chris White

Funding provided by
IDFA Bertha Fund
Bertha Foundation
Humanity United
Dalia and Amr Haj Omar

This program was produced by Refugee Club / Big World Cinema which is solely responsible for its content.

© 2014 Refugee Club / Big World Cinema. All rights reserved.

Source:
http://www.pbs.org/pov/beatsoftheantonov/credits/