“No Life on Mars”, an upcoming compelling feature-length Sudanese documentary, produced by Idris Foundation, offers an intimate, ground‑level look at Sudanese lives before and after the outbreak of the April 2023 war.
Tracing displacement across borders and the difficult realities of what comes next, the film follows five protagonists from the final days of relative normalcy through their sudden flight, asking what “home” can mean when everything is lost in a single night.
Filmed across Sudan, Kenya, and Spain, “No Life on Mars” moves beyond the headlines to reveal the deeply human stories, often lost beneath the weight of global crises. Through rare and intimate access, the documentary follows not the geography of displacement, but its emotional terrain.
British-Spanish filmmaker, Imad Yassin, with deep ties to the communities he documents, approaches his subjects with trust, care and a shared sense of fate. His work is shaped by years spent with displaced and marginalised communities, witnessing first‑hand the long‑term impact of conflict and the resilience that emerges in its wake. With his African and Middle Eastern roots, and being a first generation immigrant, the subject of being uprooted is deeply personal to him, deliberately moving away from excessive imagery, to focus on the texture of everyday life.
“This film is about what happens after the breaking news banner disappears,” says Imad Idris. “It’s about Sudanese people who wake up to find their lives divided into a ‘before’ and an ‘after’ – and the courage it takes to live in that in‑between space, with friendship, humour, faith and the quiet, stubborn decision to keep going, even when the world feels like another planet entirely.”
Through a deeply personal lens, Idris guides audiences on a journey that begins with the shock and disbelief of forced displacement, travels through the quiet resilience of survival, and ultimately arrives at the courageous threshold of acceptance, healing, and hope. As such, the protagonists are positioned not as passive victims of events, but as active agents constantly making choices, however constrained they may be. The stories behind the camera are every bit as compelling as those on the screen, and bringing this film to life required extraordinary determination, perseverance, and an unwavering commitment to storytelling. Working through complex challenges, difficult conditions, and significant restrictions, the team remained dedicated to capturing moments that might otherwise have gone unseen. Their efforts reflect the same courage and humanity that define the film itself, serving as a powerful reminder that meaningful stories often demand remarkable discipline from those entrusted to tell them.
Since the war erupted in April 2023, over 14 million people have been displaced in Sudan since the civil war began in April 2023. Families who once imagined their futures in cities such as Khartoum, now find themselves living in neighbouring countries or far‑flung distant host communities, often with very limited access to basic services, work, and education.
“No Life on Mars” situates individual stories within this wider crisis, highlighting how protracted conflict and displacement are forcibly reshaping an entire generation. The film aims to put names, faces and voices to a situation that is too often reduced to numbers and statistics, inviting audiences to reconsider how they think about refugees, borders and responsibility.
“No Life on Mars” is still in the post-production phase and is expected to be released this year.
Film Information
Title: No Life on Mars
Director: Mohamed Chawky
Creator and Executive Producer: Imad Yassin
Country and Year of Production: UK, 2026
Production Company: Idris Foundation
Filming Locations: Sudan, Kenya and Spain
Genre: Feature-length humanitarian documentary
Total Run Time: 61 Minutes
Dialogue Language(s): English and Arabic (with subtitles)
