In recent years, Sudanese cinema has undergone a remarkable transformation — a true renaissance. A new wave of Sudanese films and filmmakers is emerging, reaching international audiences, appearing on global screens, and winning awards at some of the world’s most prestigious film festivals.
Although prominent names like Amjad Abuelala (You Will Die at 20, 2019), Mohammed Kordofani (Goodbye Julia, 2023), and Suhaib Gasmelbari (Talking About Trees, 2019) often dominate the conversation around Sudanese cinema, female Sudanese filmmakers are increasingly gaining recognition for their powerful storytelling. Suzannah Mirghani, the award-winning director of Al-Sit (2020), continues to shine with her highly acclaimed new feature Cotton Queen (2025), among several other talented women reshaping Sudanese cinema.
Here are some of the most prominent and successful female Sudanese filmmakers you should know:
Eiman Mirghani
Eiman Mirghani is a Sudanese filmmaker, producer, and director based in Doha, Qatar. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Film and Media Studies from the University of Nottingham Malaysia and has since worked on numerous short films, music videos, and advertisements across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). With nearly a decade of production experience in Doha, Cairo, and Khartoum, Mirghani has taken on roles as director, assistant director, and producer.
She is also the founder and senior producer of FilmMENA, a film production house and initiative dedicated to supporting and elevating filmmakers and their stories from the MENA region. In addition, she has worked extensively in museum curation, archival research, and film production for exhibitions in her role as Senior Digital Media Specialist at Qatar Museums (QM).
The films: In 2021, Mirghani served as one of the producers of the acclaimed Sudanese short film Al-Sit, directed by fellow Sudanese filmmaker Suzannah Mirghani. The film has received multiple international awards and has qualified for the Academy Awards. Her second short film, The Bleaching Syndrome, is a personal documentary created under the mentorship of world-renowned documentarian Rithy Panh. Mirghani’s filmography also includes several other short films, such as Is That All There Is? (2018) and Veganize It (2015). Her latest film, Villa 187, is set to make its debut at the Doha Film Festival 2025.
Find Eiman Mirghani on Instagram @omgitseiman
Marwa Zein
Born in Saudi Arabia in 1985, Marwa Zein is a Sudanese–Egyptian filmmaker, producer, director, and scriptwriter based in Germany. Although she always had a deep love for the arts, she initially attempted to follow her father’s wishes by pursuing engineering. She studied chemical engineering for three years before becoming financially able to pursue her true passion. In 2005, Zein enrolled at the Academy of Arts in Cairo to study cinema, graduating with an honourable mention in 2009.
Between 2011 and 2015, she directed several short documentaries and films for Al Mawred – Cultural Resource. During this period, she also worked as an assistant director to many acclaimed Egyptian filmmakers, including Hala Khalil, Khairy Beshara, Dawoud Abdelsayed, and Shady El-Fakharany.
In 2017, Zein founded her own production company, ORE Productions, in Khartoum, Sudan. She continued expanding her practice internationally, studying New Film Teaching Techniques at the Danish National Film School in Copenhagen in 2021. She later earned her MA in Film and Media Arts from Kunsthochschule für Medien (KHM) in Cologne, Germany.
Since 2021, she has been a Film Lecturer at SRH Berlin University of Applied Sciences, and since 2023, she has also taught at the Catalyst Institute for Creative Arts & Technology in Berlin, which is partnered with Plymouth Marjon University in the UK.
The films: She is best known for her much-acclaimed first feature documentary Khartoum Offside, as well as her award-winning short fiction films A Game and One Week, Two Days. Khartoum Offside had its World Premiere at the Berlinale Forum 2019 and was officially selected for several of the world’s most prestigious festivals, including Visions du Réel, CPH:DOX, Hot Docs, Sheffield DocFest 2019, and IDFA. The film won Best Documentary at FCAT Spain (2019), a Special Mention at MAFF Sweden (2019), the Africa Movie Academy Award (AMAA) for Best Film, and Best First Work by TV5 Monde, among more than 35 national and international awards.
Since her debut short fiction film A Game, Zein’s work has been translated into more than four languages and distributed globally. She has also taken part in several notable industry events, including the Berlinale Talent Campus in Berlin.
Her short film productions include Randa, A Game, Culture for All, What a Lover Can Be?, One Week, Fontainebleau, and Oufsaiyed Elkhortoum (Khartoum Offside). She is currently developing her feature fiction film Lily’s Mecca, which has received development grants from the Göteborg Film Festival (2021), the Red Sea Film Fund (2022), and AFAC (2023).
Find Marwa Zein on Instagram @marwazeinarbab.
Rawia Alhag
Rawia Alhag is a Sudanese filmmaker, director, scriptwriter, and screenwriter based in Nairobi, Kenya. Her work centres on women’s and children’s issues, bringing attention to the experiences, struggles, and stories of Sudanese people both within their communities and across the diaspora.
The films: She is one of the directors of the powerful documentary Khartoum (2025), which premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival and was recently showcased at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival. She also directed the award-winning short film Out of Coverage (Kharej Netaq Attaghtiya), which won Best Foreign Film at the Juba Film Festival in 2024.
Find Rawia Alhag on Instagram @rawia_elhag and Facebook facebook.com/rawia.alhaj.
Sara Suliman
Sara Suliman is a UK-based Sudanese filmmaker, producer, and director, as well as a researcher, Chevening scholar, and outspoken feminist and youth advocate. She is the founder of Fenti Productions, named after the Nubian word for “dates”, a new independent film production house. Suliman completed her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration at Ahfad University for Women (AUW) in 2010 and later earned a master’s degree in Gender Studies from SOAS University of London in 2017.
The films: She is best known for her widely acclaimed debut film Heroic Bodies, which premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) in 2022, one of the world’s leading documentary festivals. The film explores the evolution of the Sudanese women’s movement through the lens of body politics, tracing how women’s bodies became sites of repression and resistance under both colonial and post-independence rule.
Heroic Bodies features prominent Sudanese figures including Hadia Talsam, member of the all-female band Al Balabil; Professor Balghis Badri, gender activist and Director of the Regional Institute for Gender Diversity, Peace and Rights at Ahfad University for Women; women’s rights activist Fatma Algadal; Dr. Ihsan Fagiri, founder of the No to Women’s Oppression initiative; and Professor Fatima Babiker Mahmoud, founder of the Pan African Women’s Liberation Organisation (PAWLO). Through their stories, the documentary highlights how women’s bodies have challenged patriarchy, state control, and colonial power while shaping the path toward liberation.
Suliman is currently developing a new film project, the details of which she is keeping under wraps.
Find Sara Suliman on Instagram @alsarasuliman.
Suzannah Mirghani
Suzannah Mirghani is a Sudanese-Russian researcher, scriptwriter, and independent filmmaker based in Qatar. She is best known for Al-Sit (2021), the award-winning short film that she wrote, directed, and produced. A graduate in media studies and museum studies, Mirghani currently serves as Assistant Director for Publications at the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) at Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q).
The films: Al-Sit (2020) won 48 awards, including the Canal+ Award at the 2021 Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival, as well as six Academy Award–qualifying prizes at the Tampere Film Festival, LA Shorts, BronzeLens, New Orleans Film Festival, AFI Fest, and Interfilm Berlin. Her social-media satire Virtual Voice (2021) premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and Kamala Ibrahim Ishag: States of Oneness (2022) was commissioned by the Serpentine Galleries. Mirghani’s poem “Some Behavioral Characteristics of the Sudanese Honey Bee (Apis mellifera sudanensis)” was published in the Black SWANA issue of Mizna 23, No. 2 (2023). Her first feature film, Cotton Queen (2025), had its world premiere at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival in the Critics’ Week section on 3 September 2025. The film had previously won the ArteKino Award at L’Atelier de la Cinéfondation at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.
Find Suzannah Mirghani on Instagram @suzannahmirghani.
Honourable mentions:
- Sara Gadalla Gubara
- Rafa Renas
- Issraa Elkogali Häggström
