In 2000, Sudanese filmmaker, painter, and poet Hussein Shariffe started to work on his last film, OF DUST AND RUBIES, a film that undertakes a cinematic interpretation of a selection of contemporary Sudanese poetry of exile. For the following four years, Shariffe, together with his intimate cast and crew, was filming across Egypt, where the filmmaker was forced to live in exile for over a decade because of his political position against the regime in Sudan. The shooting was done on 35mm in selected ten regions across the country including Cairo, Fayoum Desert, Aswan, Sinai, Alexandria, Western Desert, al-Qanatir Gardens, and Dahshour Desert. The unexpected death of Shariffe in January 2005 prohibited him from finishing his work and since then, OF DUST AND RUBIES is a film on suspension.
In August 2018, a group of five people, including Shariffe’s daughter and one of his close associates, participated in a two-day workshop in Berlin to discuss how to present the work of this exceptional filmmaker to the world. The workshop started with a viewing session of a Betacam version of the 5 hours of footage for the unfinished film, as the fate of the original 35mm is unknown. The viewing session brought many surprises to the group and confronted them with many questions that were not easy to answer. By showing some excerpts of the footage, the participants of the workshop will share their individual and personal experiences with this material in an open discussion with the public.
Eiman Hussein, born in Sudan, lives in the United Kingdom, where she works as a psychotherapist. The daughter of the late filmographer, Hussein Shariffe (1934–2005), she has worked to honor his legacy and curate his film works.
Talal Afifi is a Sudanese film curator, creative producer, founder and director of Sudan Film Factory. Since 2014 he is the president of the Sudan Independent Film Festival. He is one of the actors in OF DUST AND RUBIES.
Haytham el-Wardany, born in Cairo, is a writer and translator who is living in Berlin.
Tamer El Said is a filmmaker and producer living between Berlin and Cairo.
Stefanie Schulte Strathaus is co-director of the Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art in Berlin and founding director of Forum Expanded.
All panels, talks, and presentations in English.
