SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2019 06 cinema flickers back to life even under Bashir’s regime, about a Sudanese boy cursed by When Afifi screening documentaries and a prophecy of his early death. foreign films on rooftops in the “You Will Die at Twenty” was attended a capital. screened at international film He recalls an “unforgettable” festivals in Berlin, Venice and in 2008 short night in 2010 when he screened Egypt’s El Gouna. It even won in six short films on the roof of prizes in Venice and El Gouna. ’s Goethe Institute Munich, the shot by 15 students after a train- ‘Restoring cinemas’ ing course at the Sudan Film Bashir’s ironfisted rule came winning film Factory. to an end in April when he was It “was probably the first time deposed by the army in a pal- -- an Iraqi in a very long time that Sudanese ace coup following months of films were shown to a Sudanese protests. documentary audience on Sudanese soil,” Afifi His overthrow has given film said. enthusiasts fresh hope of reviv- shot on a Graduates of the institute ing Sudanese film-making. were heavily involved in pro- “Now we are talking of restor- handycam -- ducing “You Will Die at Twenty,” ing cinemas, changing laws and a critically acclaimed feature establishing cinematography in- inspired him stitutes,” Afifi said. But Ibrahim, sitting in front to return home of shelves full of old cameras and set up a laden with dust, cautioned that Sudanese cinemas are flickering back to life after the ouster of autocratic the country lacks studios, arts training centre president Omar al-Bashir who was deposed by the army following months of street funding and regulations for protests film-making. and production His group has approached the The Sudan Film Factory, based than 60 cinemas screening Hol- country’s new Prime Minister house in a suburban Khartoum villa, lywood, and Arabic Abdalla Hamdok with proposals has since trained more than 300 movies. to revive the film industry -- but AFP | Khartoum young men and women in vari- But Bashir’s seizing of power as the country undergoes funda- ous aspects of film-making. on the back of an Islamist-back mental political change, cinema alal Afifi has worked for Today, following Bashir’s coup in 1989 delivered the in- is far from being a priority. years to revive Sudanese ouster in April, 42-year-old Afi- dustry a powerful blow. Bashir’s ouster, however, has Tcinema which has lan- fi and his colleagues are hop - “There were five or six differ- Sudanese cinema dates back to the shooting of the first in 1898 and by given an overall boost to free- guished through decades of au- ing film-making will get a fresh ent government agencies that 1946 a fleet of mobile cinemas were travelling across the country showing films dom of expression in a country thoritarian rule. With the fall boost in the northeast African had the power to monitor us. under the evening sky which for decades lived under of longtime autocrat Omar al- country. That was nerve-wracking,” said severe regime-imposed restric- Bashir, he sees new hope. Sudanese cinema dates back Afifi. tions. Bashir’s Islamist-backed rule to the shooting of the first silent Just last week, the new tran- of 30 years had seen cinemas film in 1898, a few years after Rooftop screenings sitional authorities scrapped an shuttered and US sanctions pre- the invention of moving images, By 1996, Bashir’s conservative archaic public order law, a move vent imports of vital equipment according to veteran director Islamist regime had shut down welcomed by rights groups and in a country once known as a pi- Ibrahim Shaddad. most of the country’s cinemas. women’s activists. oneer for film-making in Africa. By 1946, a fleet of mobile cin- On top of that, an American For decades, thousands of When Afifi attended a 2008 emas were travelling across the trade embargo made it difficult women were flogged and fined short film festival in Munich, country showing films under the to import foreign films, update for “immoral acts” under this the winning film -- an Iraqi doc- evening sky. old software or acquire equip- law, which was inspired by Is- umentary shot on a handycam “There were no closed cin- ment. lamic sharia law. -- inspired him to return home ema halls at that time because Suleiman Ibrahim, president Sudanese film-makers know and set up a training centre and of extreme heat and lack of air of Sudanese Film Group -- a club that the road ahead is tough. production house. conditioners,” said Shaddad. for veteran film-makers -- said “It’s not enough to only love “I wanted to remind people Legendary film-maker Jadal- Bashir’s rule had seen the coun- cinema to make cinema,” said that there is a place called Su- lah Jubara, who recorded such try’s cinematic bodies “para- young film-maker Mahira Selim. dan, which was once renowned key moments as Sudan’s 1956 lysed” and sent many film-mak- “Cinema is an industry... and in the field of cinema, and that it independence, later made his ers into exile. Talal Afifi has set up a training centre and production house in his native Sudan this industry doesn’t exist in Su- still has its heart beating for this mark across the continent. Despite these hurdles, Afifi that has trained more than 300 young men and women in various aspects of dan,” she said. art,” he said. By the 1980s, Sudan had more and his team kept the art alive film-making “But there is hope now.”

Go grandmaster says computers Polls close in Bougainville independence vote ‘cannot be defeated’ Sydney Seoul olls on the Pacific island chain of PBougainville closed yesterday to he only human ever to end two weeks of voting in a historic Tbeat Google’s comput- referendum on independence from er algorithm at the ancient Papua New Guinea. Chinese strategy game Go Officials anticipated the “vast decided to retire because majority” of 207,000 registered he is convinced machines voters cast their ballots across the “cannot be defeated”, a re- region and beyond, with polling port said. stations established for Bougain- South Korean Lee Se- Go originated in China 3,000 years ago and has been played for villean diaspora in Australia, the Dol’s five-match show- centuries -- mostly in China, Japan and South Korea Solomon islands and other parts of down with Google’s artifi- PNG. cial intelligence program feated,” Lee, 36, told South tory wins. “We won’t have turnout figures AlphaGo in 2016 raised Korea’s Yonhap news But the strategies need- until the end of the scrutiny process The vote is a cornerstone of a 2001 peace deal that ended a brutal decade-long war both the game’s profile and agency. ed to secure victory are but during polling we witnessed between Bougainville rebels, PNG security forces and foreign mercenaries that killed up to fears of computer intelli- “With the debut of AI complex, and there are long queues at polling places, we 20,000 people and displaced thousands more gence’s seemingly limitless in Go games, I’ve realised said to be more possible witnessed great enthusiasm,” chief learning capability. that I’m not at the top even move configurations than referendum officer Mauricio Clau- but it is widely expected voters will diverse country. The 18-time world Go if I become the number atoms in the universe. dio said. “So we anticipate a high return a result in favour of inde - There is anxiety among some champion lost all but one one,” added Lee, who re- Considered one of the turnout.” pendence. in Port Moresby that Bougainville encounter in the series, tired from professional Go greatest Go players of the The vote is a cornerstone of a 2001 The last postal votes were due to could set a precedent and spur other but remains the only per- competition last week. modern era, Lee started peace deal that ended a brutal dec- be collected on Saturday evening, independence movements. son to have won a game Go originated in China playing at the age of five ade-long war between Bougainville when polls officially closed. But rejection risks rekindling old against AlphaGo. 3,000 years ago and has and turned pro just seven rebels, PNG security forces and for- This kicked off a process of verifi- feuds and skittling the peace pro- The machines have since been played for centuries years later. eign mercenaries that killed up to cation before counting takes place, cess. developed much further -- -- mostly in China, Japan But he attributed his Al- 20,000 people and displaced thou- with results expected to be an - New Zealand lead an international an updated self-teaching and South Korea. phaGo win to a “bug” in sands more. nounced in the coming week. unarmed police contingent for the version of the algorithm The rules are simple the program’s response to Joyous scenes marked the open- If voters do choose independence, vote, backed by fellow witnesses to beat its predecessor 100 -- two players take turns his “tricky” play. ing of polling stations two weeks the decision would require ratifica- the 2001 peace agreement: Australia, games to none. placing black or white “My white 78 was not a ago, with Bougainvilleans asked to tion by the PNG parliament, whose Fiji, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. “Even if I become the stones on a square board move that should be coun- choose between greater autonomy recently installed Prime Minister Claudio said voting had gone “bet- number one, there is an with a 19x19 grid. Whoev- tered straightforwardly,” or independence from PNG. James Marape will need to careful- ter than we expected” with little entity that cannot be de- er captures the most terri- he said. There are no reliable exit polls, ly manage expectations within the incident.