The only ones I knew were domestic workers. And there are more than two or three million Southerners there. And when I looked at myself, before I blamed the government or anything, I found that I actually didn’t know any Southerners, although I lived in Khartoum all my life. And for me, this result is by no means a political decision.

The guilt I felt when I heard the result of the separation referendum in 2011, which was that almost 99% of the Southerners said they don’t want to be united with the North. I think that initially what drove me to write the film was my guilt. What moved you to want to tell this specific story? A disconnect and the perpetuation of conflict. In very reductive terms, to me “Goodbye Julia” is the story of a disconnect. So these guys are just fighting to preserve their own interest in the region. And I’m against the militia who actually make a living by sending troops to Yemen or Libya as just mercenaries. I’m against the army, because the army is still controlled by the Islamists who were protecting and Omar al-Bashir back then. But you have to look only at the history. So I know people will try to establish a relation between what’s happening now and what happened during the secession of the South. But has something to do with the inception of the warring militia.

What’s happening now has nothing to do with racism when it comes to the current fighting. Tribalism has always been the motivation for all the decisions and all the politics in the country. And this has been the case throughout the history of Sudan. 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. Can you help me connect it with the current conflict between factions loyal to two rival generals? “Goodbye Julia” reflects the effect of the struggle between secessionist fighters in the South and the government in Khartoum in the North that has consumed Sudan for decades, claiming millions of lives. Obviously, this is a timely film, but the situation in Sudan is complicated. Kordofani, from Bahrein, spoke to Variety about the relevance of this film and the hope that, after Cannes, “Goodbye Julia” will be seen in his war-torn country. Siran Riak in Goodbye Julia/Courtesy Mad Solutions Courtesy Mad Solutions

The Fight Within by Andrew Grey