2023-11-10 16:08:49
The Sudanese film “Goodbye, Julia” was able to achieve revenues exceeding two million pounds ($65,000) at the Egyptian box office within two weeks, making it a strong competitor to Egyptian films in theaters. During the week of its premiere, it generated revenues of regarding 80 thousand pounds less (the US dollar is equivalent to regarding 31 Egyptian pounds) only than the Egyptian film “The Thursday That Comes” by Amr Abdel Galil, while “Goodbye, Julia” came third at the Egyptian box office for Arab films following the film “Foy.” Foy Foy,” which was shown at the end of last September, outperformed films shown since last summer, including “Agent Zero.”
The events of the Sudanese film, written and directed by Mohamed Kordofani, deal with the story of “Julia,” whose origins belong to South Sudan, but she resides in the north before the separation. “Mona,” the northern lady, accompanied by her husband, “Akram,” causes the killing of Julia’s husband, so she begins to help her in an effort to purify herself from… She committed the sin without informing her husband, in a social context that was not devoid of politics during the period that witnessed Sudan heading towards secession.
The work, which won the Freedom Prize in the “Un Certain Regard” competition at the Cannes International Film Festival, is the second Sudanese film to be shown in Egyptian cinemas following “You Will Die at Twenty” by director Amjad Abu El-Ela, the main producer of “Goodbye, Julia”, in partnership with entities. Egyptian, Saudi, French and Swedish productivity.
Timing game
“It is necessary to screen the film commercially before the end of last October, in order for Sudan to be represented at the Oscars, in addition to not competing with major Egyptian or American cinematic films in theaters. Two factors forced the distributing company to show it at that time in Egyptian theaters,” according to the film’s distributor, Alaa Karkouti, who told Asharq Al-Awsat that the film was released in 9 cinemas on the first day, and two days later it reached 23 cinemas in different locations, which continued until The beginning of the third week.
For his part, Egyptian film critic Andrew Mohsen enumerates the reasons that helped the film achieve significant revenues, first and foremost “the difficult circumstances that the Sudanese community is going through in Egypt, and the exceptional humanitarian situation that the film presents as it addresses the transformation in the country’s history and the separation of the North from the South, which is an issue It is not far away in time, and the majority of those in Egypt lived through it.”
He points out that “the current period is not witnessing strong competition at the box office, in addition to the interruption in showing new films, due to the war in Gaza, which affected theaters.”
“About 70 percent of the film’s audience are Sudanese,” according to estimates by the film’s cinema distribution official, who believes that the positive reaction in recent days has prompted an increase in the attendance of Egyptians, Arabs, and even foreigners. This prompted the use of Arabic and English translations of the copies presented in light of the lack of understanding of some of the Arabic dialect used.
Promotional poster for the film (producing company)
According to a statement by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the number of the Sudanese community before the beginning of the current crisis was estimated at regarding 5 million people, while estimates indicate that more than 200,000 Sudanese have been displaced since the beginning of the military conflict in mid-April.
Producer and director Amjad Abu Al-Ela does not deny that the film benefited from the large Sudanese community in Egypt today, whose demand for viewing in the first week led to an increase in the number of copies shown in cinema halls, especially with some theater officials hesitating regarding showing the film as a result of the absence of stars among the heroes, as well as The Sudanese rush encouraged Egyptians to attend, with the Sudanese audience repeatedly watching him with their friends and families, to give him the hope they needed at a time when they lost their homes and were displaced from them.
Abu Al-Ela participated with the film’s director and a number of its makers, including the two leads, Iman Youssef and Nizar Jumaa, in meetings with the audience that were not limited to the special screening, but extended to include viewings with them, including parties and discussions, to find out their impressions.
Marketing success
In addition to attracting the large Sudanese community in Egypt, other factors contributed to promoting the film, according to Karkouti, including “its participation in the Cannes Film Festival and the positive reaction it received from the press and critics, in a consensus that only occurs exceptionally regarding films participating in festivals, in addition to Coordinating propaganda with media partners, while not forgetting to communicate with influencers on social media sites, which began to spread with the praise he received from filmmakers and stars in various fields through their accounts, such as director Yousry Nasrallah.
According to Mohsen, “the distribution plan and the speed of response by making the film available, where the Sudanese audience resides, played a major role in increasing revenues,” explaining that the film had a good marketing opportunity since its release due to the good study by distribution officials of the market situation and the rapid increase in the number of screens. Pointing out that it recorded the highest revenues at the Egyptian box office among Arab films.
Despite the artistic nature of the film, the revenues it achieved are better than the revenues of similar Egyptian films, according to Mohsen, who points out that “Arab films that were released in Egyptian theaters during the past years cannot be said to have been shown in a large commercial manner, with their showing being limited to limited places. such as cinema (corner); Which means opening the door to the opportunity to experiment with other works by offering them commercially.”
Amjad Abu Al-Ela agrees with him, adding to Asharq Al-Awsat that “the film’s commercial success will open the door to reconsidering outdated concepts, such as classifying films between festivals and commercial ones.” The film was shown at several international festivals and won awards, and at the same time achieved significant revenues in cinemas.”
Abu Al-Ela hopes that the revenues generated by the film in Egyptian cinemas will contribute to its spread in the Gulf during the coming period.
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