New film brings Sudanese women’s fight to the big screen

Director Sara Suleiman has not flinched from showing a history suffering and exploitation, but the rare and dazzling quality of this documentary is its all-pervading sense of hope and optimism

IDFA

A scene from the documentary 'Heroic Bodies,' a history of Sudanese women's repression and revolution.

New film brings Sudanese women’s fight to the big screen

Areej Jamal

last update on 19 Aug 2024

With civil war raging in Sudan, the first screenings of a new film about Sudanese women’s suffering have been held outside the country, to highlight issues faced at home, from intimidation and displacement to rape and murder.

Heroic Bodies, first screened in Cairo, is a documentary from director Sara Suleiman that depicts how those horrors have been a part of life for Sudan’s women for so long.

The film uses powerful imagery to convey a clear message: life goes on through turmoil and suffering. It also suggests that chapters of the nation’s history are still to be written by Sudanese women, as they have been for decades.

In that sense, there is optimism in this documentary, made from a feminist perspective, on a difficult subject. Today, the country finds itself in dire straits. These are old wounds afflicting not just women in Sudan but around the Arab world.

Heroic Bodies defies expectations that it will be a bleak watch. While it covers the oppression, subjugation, and exploitation endured by women in the name of customs, traditions, and honour, it also highlights their resistance, both subtle and overt.

At certain moments, the film even invites us to laugh, as we listen to their testimonies, both personal and collective. We take it in with a mix of enjoyment and reverence, as if taking in a tale from our grandmother.

Academic foundations

The film is based on Suleiman’s academic research conducted at a university in London that produced the main body of work, titled The Politics of the Body in the Process of Liberation in the Sudanese Feminist Movement.

She realised that turning it into a film would mean a broader audience for her research, from the early 20th century to the early 1970s.

The film uses powerful imagery to convey a clear message: life goes on through turmoil and suffering

It begins with young activist Hadia Hasaballah discussing historical figures from the Sudanese feminist movement, including Lady Azah. Revered throughout Sudan, she was the first woman to be tortured by British colonisers for political reasons, relating to her role in the resistance.

From this opening focus on a prominent female figure in Sudanese history, the film sets off in its search for the glimmers of light in the darkness, in part done through music.

The stories recounted by activists are underscored by the song Salam (Peace), performed by Nancy Aja, a tribute to these resilient women from both past and present. The melody evokes a sense of joy and hope, even at painful times.

Visually, the film compensates for its static camera when the women tell their stories by incorporating a rich archive of photos and footage that Suleiman has unearthed from Sudanese women's institutions and universities in London.

IDFA — A scene from the documentary 'Heroic Bodies,' a history of Sudanese women's repression and revolution.

The montage artfully puts this material on display, showing the way time has changed the women of Sudan, as we hear their voices and stories and see them relaxed gatherings in their homes.

Tradition dictates that the home should be the primary place for women. Within them, women can tell a different story, and dream of an alternative authority to the male-run world outside.

Rebellion and ritual

The home is portrayed as having a dual strength. True stories of real-life heroines resisting male dominance are woven in, acts of rebellion against outdated ideas—including those concerning the female body—that seek to oppress women.

The film documents inherited customs that have exploited and commodified the female body. One is a marriage custom. Over three nights, she is made to dance for her husband, his family and guests, while the husband holds her with a rope until she faints.

Another abhorrent practice is an archaic method of childbirth before midwives, whereby the woman hung from a rope suspended from the ceiling while the newborn was pulled downward, sometimes resulting in the baby emerging with parts of the mother's womb.

True stories of real-life heroines resisting male dominance are woven in, acts of rebellion against outdated ideas concerning the female body

The film also explores the Rahat, a revealing garment designed to attract a marriage proposal, as recounted by feminist activist Fatima Al-Qaddal.

Such rituals for women only began to decline in the 1960s. Even then, the first to abandon the customs for more modern wedding ceremonies faced criticism and accusations of imitating Egyptians, as people opposed the break with tradition.

Prof. Fatima Babiker Mahmoud, founder of the Organisation for the Liberation of African Women, offers a clear conclusion: "Sudanese women do not own their bodies."

She explains that a society shaped by a long history of colonisation has automatically transferred this oppression onto women's bodies, convincing them that such customs are in their best interest.

Education on customs

The prevalence and acceptance of such customs among women is closely tied to Sudanese society's broader rejection of women's schooling. This was challenged by Sheikh Babiker Badri, who sought to establish a comprehensive educational system for girls.

It gave rise to a new generation of pioneering Sudanese feminists resisting the oppression imposed by Sudan's military rulers. Few men genuinely supported Sudanese women in their pursuit of education, rights, and employment. Psychiatrist Dr Abdullah Abdeen attributes this to fear for their jobs.

Nevertheless, education led to cultural change and the rise of feminist magazines, including Sawt al-Mar'a (Voice of Women).

It was published by the Sudanese Women's Union, which played a key role in challenging and rejecting customs that were sexually abusive, including female circumcision, and fought for a justice system that benefits both men and women.

A taste of freedom

Abdeen also discusses the Zar, a ritual believed to involve women possessed by spirits, whereby they could dance freely, sing, and have their requests fulfilled, no matter how unconventional.

This included smoking and drinking alcohol, justified under the pretext that these were the demands of the spirits possessing them. Abdeen suggests that when a woman claimed to be possessed, she was, in effect, seeking temporary freedom.

A new generation of pioneering Sudanese feminists resist oppression imposed by Sudan's military rulers, but few men genuinely support them

He connects the prevalence and intensity of the Zar to the deteriorating social status of women in Sudan, seeing it as a form of soft rebellion and emotional release, but it also served as an artistic space, especially for the marginalised and socially ostracised.

The skilful editing of Imad Maher, and Suleiman's thoughtful vision, means the audience is not overwhelmed by the subject matter, with recurring themes as the story unfolds.

Scenes of a young Sudanese woman behind bars punctuate the film, leading to her symbolic liberation. In instances where visual material is lacking, evocative Sudanese artwork is used, translating history into powerful, expressive images.

Fatima Babiker Mahmoud shares her own painful circumcision experience, viewing it as an indication of the early societal oppression imposed on women's bodies.

Other testimony connects this to the tradition of Shaloch, whereby longitudinal scars are made on women's faces. Young girls are told that these scars are marks of beauty, only to then face the harsh reality—much like the shock of circumcision.

They endure the pain of the wounds, which remain open and can become infected, before eventually forming into shapes symbolising tribal identity. Imagery of this adorns the cover of The Drowning by Sudanese writer Hammour Ziada.

Heroes of the struggle

Some of the stars of Heroic Bodies are female fighters, such as Suad Ibrahim Ahmed, who became an unforgettable symbol in the Sudanese feminist movement and its demands for political rights by going on a hunger strike.

Another form of struggle is recounted by singer Hadiya Talsam, a member of the pioneering Sudanese women's singing group, Al-Balabil.

The formation of this group was a revolutionary act in itself, for which the three sisters paid the price of harassment and insults in the streets for daring to sing.

The Sudanese woman's body has long been punished, explaining the origins of what has become a contemporary rebellion

This culminates in a powerful conclusion, voiced by one of the narrators, that the Sudanese woman's body has long been punished, explaining the origins of what has become a contemporary rebellion.

It sheds light on why Sudanese women were at the forefront of the 2019 Sudanese revolution, as captured in iconic images circulated widely in the media. It redefined the voice of Sudanese women as a force.

Throughout, a sense of hope prevails in the women's voices and optimism. These really are heroic bodies in the sense of the title, having endured countless wounds. Determined to pursue their liberation, this film is itself a means to that end.

Heroic Bodies is ostensibly about anthropology and Sudan, but the story it tells goes much deeper and will resonate with women across Arab societies.

It is also a reminder of the importance of documenting these struggles, so that neither the oppression endured, nor the heroism displayed, is ever forgotten.

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