Sudan has a history of cinema, but in recent years, Sudanese cinema has experienced one of the most significant creative resurgences. While it has yet to develop into a full-fledged industry, film in Sudan has become a growing movement, an evolving space that holds the potential to transform into a sustainable industry.
Sudanese films and documentaries have begun reaching international stages and earning global recognition. Acclaimed works include You Will Die at Twenty (2019), Al-Sit (2020), Goodbye Julia (2023), and Cotton Queen (2025), along with documentaries such as Talking About Trees (2019), Khartoum (2025), Sudan, Remember Us (2024), Khartoum Offside (2019), aKasha (2018), and Beats of the Antonov (2014). You Will Die at Twenty was Sudan’s first-ever Oscar submission, while Goodbye Julia became the first Sudanese feature film to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Un Certain Regard – Freedom Prize in 2023.
However, the acting scene in Sudan has yet to match the momentum of filmmaking. As Sudanese films continue to gain recognition, the acting community is expected to expand and strengthen, creating a larger and more diverse pool of talent.
Here are some of Sudan’s rising actresses and actors making their mark on screen.
Female
Bunna Khalid
Bunna Khalid is an actress and model based in Cairo, Egypt. She is known for role as the love interest of the lead actor Muzamel, a boy cursed by a Dervish prophecy that he will die at the age of 20, in the 2019 award-winning Sudanese film You Will Die at Twenty, by the award-winning Sudanese film director and screenwriter Amjad Abu Alala, which reaped a plethora of international awards and Sudan’s first official submission to the 2021 Academy Awards for the Best Foreign Language Film category. She stirred a huge buzz for her astounding performance, and had a notable presence on the red carpet at El Gouna Film Festival in 2020.
Born (in 1993) and raised in Khartoum, Khalid studied at Al Khansaa School, then joined National Ribat University, where she studied Public Relations. Khalid left her career in public relations to pursue her passion for cinema, acting and modelling, working as a fashion model in Sudan and across East Africa for two years. She became a well-known face among audiences by modeling in commercial TV ads, and that’s when Abu Alala chose her to star in You Will Die at Twenty. She is managed by MAD Solutions, an independent studio with fully integrative marketing and creative consultancy for the entertainment industry in the Pan-Arab region.
Social media: Instagram @bunna_khalid, Facebook facebook.com/BunnaKhalid, X (formerly Twitter) @khalidbunna
Eiman Yousif
Eiman Yousif is an actress, singer and songwriter best known for playing the central character Mona in the award-winning Sudanese drama film Goodbye Julia (2023). Directed by Mohamed Kordofani, the film scooped Sudan’s first-ever international nomination at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023 winning the Prix de la Liberté. Her role gained her several awards, nominations, and recognistions. In 2023, she received Best Actor at the Muslim International Film Festival, and Best Leading Actress in a First Feature Film at the Cyprus International Film Festival. In 2024, she received the Best Female Performance award at the Dakhla Film Festival.
Born on 17 December 1992 in Khartoum, Eiman earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the School of Management Studies at the University of Khartoum (UofK). During her time as a student, Eiman was a member of the Faculty Choir at UofK. She is also part of the prestigious Bait Aloud Orchestra and has performed at numerous events both within Sudan and internationally.
Social media: Instagram @eimanyousifofficial, YouTube youtube.com/@Eimanyousif, Facebook facebook.com/p/Eiman-Yousif
Islam Mubarak
Islam Mubarak is an actress best known for her role as Sakina – a mother who was told by the village’s holy man that her son Mutzamil will die at the age of 20 – in the award-winning film, You Will Die at Twenty, which was directed by award-winning Sudanese filmmaker Amjad Abu Alala and was Sudan’s first official submission to the 2021 Academy Awards for the Best Foreign Language Film category. Her role in the acclaimed film give her an artistic leap after the film gained wide fame and won a large number of Arab and international awards.
She studied acting and directing, and made her acting debut in TV in 2001. But her film debut, didn’t come until her role in You Will Die at Twenty. Since, she has appeared in various other Sudanese and Egyptian films such as recent films Bougainvillea (2025) and Daye: Seret Ahl El Daye (The Tale of Daye’s Family, 2024). In April 2025, she won the Special Jury Prize at the Hollywood Arab Film Festival for her outstanding performance in Daye: Seret Ahl El Daye, an Egyptian film by Egyptian director Karim El Shinnawi about an 14-year-old Nubian albino with a golden voice, who faces adversity due to his unique appearance, and embarks on a family trip to follow his dreams inspired by his musical hero and idol – the popular Egyptian singer Mohamed Mounir. For the same role, she also won the Best Actress Award at the first Port Said Film Festival in September 2025.She is managed by MAD Solutions, the first Pan-Arab independent studio with fully integrative marketing and creative consultancy for the entertainment industry region.
Social media: Instagram @islammoubarak_, Facebook facebook.com
Linda Omer
Linda Omer is an actress best known for her role in the short Sudanese film, Bougainvillea (2025). As the central character, she joins six women, including the acclaimed Islam Mubarak, who find themselves imprisoned within the harsh grip of oppression, amid Sudan’s 2018 revolution. Their story unfolds as a powerful testament to the unyielding resilience and transformative strength of the human spirit.
Social media: Instagram @llynn.66
Mihad Murtada
Mihad Murtada is a Sudanese-Gabonese actress and digital creator known for being the lead actress Cotton Queen (2025) and Al-Sit (2020), both successful films by Sudanese-Russian researcher and filmmaker Suzannah Mirghani. She plays Nafisa who lives in a cotton-farming village in Sudan, picking cotton and learning from her grandmother. The arrival of a young Sudanese businessman, threatens to change their way of life.
Social media: Instagram @mihadmurtada, Facebook facebook.com/mihad.murtada.1, TikTok @mihadmurtada
Suhanda Abubakr
Suhanda AbuBakr is an actress, film director and producer, theater director and a cinematic makeup artist based in Dubai, the UAE. She is known for her breakout role in the short Sudanese film, Bougainvillea (2025). She is also popular on social media especially TikTok, and commonly performs online skits such as the viral parody of Ahmed Amin’s and Zanib’s song, HANT.
Social media: Instagram @suhandaalexsander, X (Twitter) @abunamasuhanda, Facebook facebook.com/suhanda.alexsander
Male
Abbas Wahab
Abbas Wahab is a Canadian-Sudanese comedian and actor, originally based in New York City. He has performed at comedy clubs and events across Canada and the US, and has been featured at prestigious festivals including Just For Laughs and the Edinburgh Fringe. Through his online sketches, he has built a loyal following of over 120,000 on Instagram and 200,000 on TikTok. In addition to comedy, Wahab has achieved success as an actor. He most recently appeared as a SWAT officer in M Night Shyamalan’s psychological thriller Trap (2024), starring Josh Hartnett. He has also made appearances on popular TV shows including The Boys, What We Do in the Shadows, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
Social media: Instagram @abbaswahab, TikTok @abbaswahab, Threads @abbaswahab, website abbaswahab.com
Mohamed Elsandel
British-Sudanese actor Mohamed Elsandel is an exciting emerging talent based in London, England. He is known for his role as a regular in the thriller Apple series Hijack (2023) with Idris Alba starring in the lead role. He plays Jaden, one of the hijackers on Flight KA29. On the seven-hour journey from Dubai to London, corporate negotiator Sam Nelson, played by Idris Elba, tries to use his professional skills to save everyone on board. Elba is also the executive producer of the show. Many took to social media to celebrate Elsandel’s casting on Hijack and commended hearing the Sudanese accent on an international screen for the first time.
Elsandel joined the National Youth Theatre and since then, has gone on to perform in ‘Angels’ (Greenwich Theatre) and films Hireth (2021) and Playtower. He is signed to Curtis Brown, a literary and talent agency based in London. One of the oldest literary agencies in Europe, it was founded by Albert Curtis Brown in 1899, and is part of The Curtis Brown Group of companies. In addition to acting in theatre productions, films and series, Mohamed has also acted in commercials for well-known brands such as Vodafone, Puma, Dominos, and NHS. He has also done voice-overs for documentaries and audiobooks such as BBC Two’s Panorama: Drugs, Cops and Lockdown and Toni Morrison’s Beloved.
He is set to star in the upcoming thriller Olga (2025).
Social media: Instagram @mo.elsandel
Mustafa Shehata
Mustafa Shehata is an actor based in Cairo, Egypt known for his acting debut as the lead character, Muzamel, a boy cursed by a Dervish prophecy that he will die at the age of 20, in You Will Die at Twenty (2019), by the award-winning Sudanese film director and screenwriter Amjad Abu Alala, which reaped a plethora of international awards and Sudan’s first official submission to the 2021 Academy Awards for the Best Foreign Language Film category.
Born in 1997 in Khartoum, Sudan, he grew up in the country, where he studied to become an ophthalmic assistant, which inspired his stellar performance in You Will Die at Twenty (2019). Later, he shared comic sketches with his friends online, which quickly went viral on various social media platforms. Following the success of You Will Die at Twenty, Shehata’s career skyrocketed, and was part of the Berlin International Film Festival’s Talent in 2020 as well as a jury member at the Ajyal Film Festival in Doha, Qatar, and Al Ain Film Festival in Abu Dhabi, the UAE. He was chosen by Screen Daily for the Arab Stars of Tomorrow 2021 edition.
In addition to You Will Die at Twenty, Shehata stars as Gamar, in the OSN+ original My Driver and I (2024), directed by Saudi actress and filmmaker Ahd Kamel, which revolves around Salma, a young, privileged, and rebellious Saudi girl whose family hires a Sudanese man named Gamar to drive her to and from her day-to-day activities. Initially adhering to a simple employer/employee dynamic, Salma and Gamar’s relationship quickly evolves into an intimate personal friendship that bonds them through her teenage years and beyond, but their friendship is put to the test when Salma gets older and starts taking the wheel.
Social media: Facebook facebook.com/mustafa.shehata
Ramey Dawoud
Ramey Dawoud is a Sudanese-American rapper, actor, songwriter, activist and author. He is best known for his starring role as Faisal in the award-winning short film, Faisal Goes West (2013). He also had roles in other various films such as Choice (2013) and Terrorist Number 4 (2018). He was also featured in the acclaimed Sudanese documentary Revolution From Afar (2020). His most recent acting role was in The Pharmacy, a comedy blap created by his co-star and wife Ola Labib for Channel 4 in March 2025.
Honourable mentions
- Ola Labib – The Pharmacy (2025)
- Haram Basher – Al-Sit (2020)
- Moatasem Rashed – You Will Die at Twenty (2019)
- Talaat Farid – Al-Sit (2020)
- Mohammed Magdi Al-Sit (2020)
