Director Nasser Youssef documents the creators

Mustafa Ahmed Al-Khalifa: Artists are makers of awareness and change

Friends parted ways before the war

We have content and fail to produce for these reasons

Sudan Events – Magda Hassan

Director Nasser Youssef is active in a group of visits to creative people currently residing in the city of Omdurman. His visits included the distinguished actress Fayza Amseeb, the playwright Mustafa Ahmed Al-Khalifa, the member of the Friends Band, Muhammad Al-Mahdi Al-Fadni, and the able actress Nahid Hassan. The visits aim to inspect the conditions of these creative people in war zones.

Artistic fasting

Director Nasser Youssef is considered the owner of the longest working trip inside Sudan during the war, accompanied by Dr. Saleh Abdel Qader, and with self-help they called it an “antidote to war” trip that included a workshop to screen and discuss the film (Needle and Thread), a film against the marriage of underage girls.
Working on developing the screenplay for the film (Exodus of the Soul), a film that deals with the horror of war in Sudan.
Nasser said that the journey will continue until after the war as a repayment of the debt to the Sudanese people and the nation, as an attempt on their part to build the nation. However, Nasser announced two months ago that he would “fast” from the arts, even on World Theater Day, and said that he would remain silent.

Interrogating creative people
Nasser left on his long journey until he reached Egypt and stayed there for several months, then returned to the city of Omdurman and announced that he had inspected the creative people there, interrogated them artistically and socially, and reflected on their situation. Perhaps the most notable visits were to the writer, playwright, and actor, member of the Friends Band and one of its founders, Mustafa Ahmed Al-Khalifa, at his home in Al-Thawra Al-Hara (13), where the Caliph expressed his happiness with the visit, pointing out the interconnectedness of the dramatists, their checking up on each other, striving to know each other’s news, and interacting in times of joy and hatred.

Arts stage

Director Nasser Youssef’s visit to the Caliph revealed his familiarity with everything that was going on, explaining that drama and theater in particular are a collective act that cannot be achieved without the presence of all people. “Everyone is working in their emigrants and exiles. We know all their news. I hope everyone will return.” He said.
He stressed that the next stage needs the arts of all kinds such as the need for industry, agriculture, and livestock, because they are the makers of awareness and change, and they are responsible for sitting down and learning about historical mistakes and correcting them for the future.

Content and absence

The visit also did not ignore the present and future of the Friends Theater Troupe, whose creators dispersed between countries, as Jamal Abdel Rahman left for Canada, Muhammad Naeem Saad to the Emirates, Abdel Moneim Othman to France, and some others to the states. However, the Caliph confirmed that the troupe faced problems before the war, related to their ability to produce. “The band had problems before the revolution because most of its works were self-produced (Deen and his predecessors) and we depend on the box office, the viewer’s pocket, and so on, but the issue became more difficult. Then the war came and put everyone in a place. We almost froze our work and each member joined the work closest to him,” He stressed. Al-Khalifa said that the relationship between “Friends” will not end because it is a family relationship and free of any personal problems. “We have overcome the work even though the content is there and the material is there and we are able to produce even though we (were unable), but the arts have no age that can be produced until they enter the grave.” He added.