Once upon a time it would be hard for Americans to imagine themselves in this position. As startled citizens of a destabilized country forced to flee.

The crisis in Sudan started with a 30-year dictatorship, then an unstable civil government and military coup. Citizens ran from a country that imploded from a government ravaged by power-hungry leaders more bent on their own needs than the good of the people. It’s a continuing nightmare. A bad dream constantly relived by the people of Khartoum, Sudan. Some sought cover in East African countries like Egypt and Kenya.

Sudanese filmmakers, Anas Saeed, Rawia Alhag, Ibrahim Snoopy, Timeea Ahmed along with British director Phil Cox have chronicled the brave exploits of five individuals who ran for their lives. Four storylines depict their shock, fear, grief and ability to survive. Haunted by what they’ve seen and lost. Losing that secure feeling we get from having the stable homes, neighborhoods, communities, jobs and routines that ground us. 

Lokain and Wilson are two young boys who made a feeble living as bottle collectors. “The rubbish is our treasure; plastic bottles are our gold.” Then catastrophe struck.  “The first time we saw the RSF (Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group operated by the government) there were so many anti-aircraft jeeps and guns. They swarmed the area. A jet came and fired. It killed lots of people.”

Jawad, a twentysomething year-old resistance committee volunteer, watched his country disintegrate. “I'm afraid of being a refugee. I'm scared of not seeing my home again. I want to be known to have a purpose. To be someone who is loved. May God help Sudan.”

Khadmallah, a tea stall owner, is an entrepreneur and she’s quite circumspect: “Sudan is the way it is because there is a fixation on ethnicity, rather than on national identity. One part says we're African the other says we're Arab, but in reality, we're all African.”

Majid, a former civil servant has deep regrets: “I've done things I'm not proud of. The war started on a Saturday around 9:30 in the morning. We started hearing shooting. Omar al Bashir was head of the military and president from 1989 to 2019. If you criticized Omar al Bashir or his circle, they would take you for torture in ghost houses. There was no freedom of expression. People were exhausted. Some chose silence, others chose migration.”

The ingenious filmmakers get their subjects to retell their stories in front of a green screen, where they reenact the good and bad of their previous lives with corroborating images in the background. Their new journeys in Kenya and Egypt are captured live as well. The juxtaposition of the old reimagined and the new in current footage is an atypical documentary format. A unique choice that seems light years ahead of traditional documentaries.

Helping the proceedings are meditative ex-pats who brim with thoughtful dialogue that’s uncannily perceptive, profound, poetic and evocative. Editor Yousef Hayyan Jubeh keeps the footage and its chapters, which build into a travelogue and storybook, mercifully short (80 minutes). Composer James Preston creates the right music for the recollections and confessions.

What’s on view is so prescient. So timely in a day and age when some might think, this could never happen to them. Not in their our country. But this is a non-fiction, cautionary tale. Greed can lead a nation to ruin. One of the survivors knows the warning signs: “They didn't consider Sudan or the needs of its people. Each only sought self-fulfillment and power.” Uh-oh.

For more information about the Sundance Film Festival go to: https://festival.sundance.org

 Visit Film Critic Dwight Brown at DwightBrownInk.com