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Story of resilience
Resilience, identity and cultural memory are some of the main themes that run through the work of young Sudanese filmmaker Ibrahim Ahmad, aka Brahim Snoopy. This is because they are traits which resonate with him personally and which he looks out for when he is choosing which stories to tell.
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“What resilience means to me” - the journey of a young Sudanese filmmaker
Resilience, identity and cultural memory are some of the main themes that run through the work of young Sudanese filmmaker Ibrahim Ahmad, aka Brahim Snoopy. This is because they are traits which resonate with him personally and which he looks out for when he is choosing which stories to tell.
Snoopy’s connection to the Sudanese filmmaking industry began when he took on an acting role in a small production when he was still at university in Khartoum. This experience, in 2013, was a catalyst for Snoopy who sensed his own potential to become more involved in the industry and to even produce his own films. Together with a group of friends who shared his vision of striking out alone, they set up their own production company, which they called In Deep Visions. The company started small with short productions including a fiction film Marina and two short horror movies The Curse and The Curse ll. While working at the company, Snoopy continued to be involved with other filmmakers and their productions as an actor or cameraman. One example is his shooting of the film Khartoum Offside directed by Marwa Zein about the travails of a Sudanese women’s football team trying to defy social and political odds to play their beloved game professionally.
The Sudanese Revolution of 2018-2019 was a historic moment which inspired young creatives with the sense of freedom and change it promised. Snoopy and In Deep Visions were no exception. He took part in shooting the film Sudan Remember Us directed by Hind Meddeb, which captured the joy and hope of the Sudanese people during their Revolution. A Journey to Kenya, a film documenting the trip undertaken by a Sudanese jiu-jitsu team to take part in a tournament in Kenya with minimal funds and having to overcome countless adversities en route in their clapped out mini-bus, was produced by In Deep Visions shortly after hopes of the Revolution’s success began to diminish.
Another monumental event for Sudan was the war that broke out in 2023 and which shattered the lives of millions with the extreme violence that was unleashed. As a result, Snoopy and many other young creatives were forced to leave Sudan, with many of them settling in neighbouring countries. Now residing in Kenya, Snoopy continues to work on a range of projects including co-directing the feature documentary Khartoum, a joint production by ‘Native Film Voices’ and the ‘Sudan Film Factory’. Shooting on this film began before the war following the lives of five individuals in Khartoum and the adversities they have to overcome. The film had not yet been finalised when fighting broke out and as a result, the team has had to tweak the storyline and creative cinematic effects were incorporated to finalise production.
Stories of resilience, according to Snoopy, are of becoming a success story and of accomplishing dreams or achieving goals. He believes that while everyone has dreams and goals in life, not everyone can achieve these, sometimes because they lack inspiration or knowledge of how to proceed. In order to achieve their goals, Snoopy claims they must have a plan and be inspired by someone from their own community, “I need the Michael Jordan of my own community so that I can believe in myself more”, he explains. Spoopy points out that while many inspiring Sudanese success stories can be found on sites like Facebook, most of the time these types of stories are not represented or documented. According to the young filmmaker, having the determination to achieve goals is not contingent on age, gender or any other classification, but emphasises the importance of how this goal is reached such as whether it is achieved with others or the pace at which it is realised. Sometimes “just surviving another day is also a form of resilience”, he points out.
In response to a question about whether he thinks there is a typically Sudanese form of resilience, snoopy explains that whilst determination to achieve a specific goal is a universal attribute, small details can be said to be uniquely Sudanese, giving the example of recent protests in Kenya and how they were organised compared to how youth in Sudan mobilised during the Revolution. One of the most recent productions by In Deep Visions is the music video We’ll Return Again which taps into the resilience of the Sudanese who have had to flee the war and their deep longing to return. Snoopy describes the music and lyrics of the song as emotional and uplifting, unlike the melancholy tunes of other Sudanese songs that have been produced during wartime. The song is one of hope, telling those Sudanese who have remained in the country that “we are coming back” and that “we want to send you this message to say that we haven’t forgotten about you.”
Perhaps the best way to appreciate Snoopy’s resilience is to see what he and his friends at In Deep Visions have achieved since they set out to make their own films ten years ago. Through sheer grit and determination, they have overcome all the set-backs and “dramas” that creatives face on a daily basis in Sudan and most importantly the brutal circumstances of repression and war. An accolade of local awards including at the Taharqa, Sudan Independent, Khartoum and European film festivals have made Snoopy a household name in Sudan. This trust placed in him by the public has in turn boosted the filmmaker’s confidence in himself. It is no surprise therefore to learn that Khartoum, the film Snoopy is co-directing, is scheduled for screening in early 2025 at the prestigious, and internationally renowned, Sundance film festival. Snoopy is extremely proud of this achievement and points out that it has not been a coincidence or luck but rather the result of very hard work, creativity and determination.
On the song:
Production: In Deep Vision films and performed by Moawia Ahmed Khalid, Mohamed Adam Abu, Beha Al-ameen, and Shamseldien Alhag came out on the 10th of October “The World Mental Health Day”. The song was Produced by Niile and written by Mahmoud Algaily.
you can listen to “Raj3een Tany” official song on Soundcloud
Sponsored by Tarco aviation , Cashi, 106.6 PRO FM
Poster design : Nihal Kamal
“What resilience means to me” - the journey of a young Sudanese filmmaker
Resilience, identity and cultural memory are some of the main themes that run through the work of young Sudanese filmmaker Ibrahim Ahmad, aka Brahim Snoopy. This is because they are traits which resonate with him personally and which he looks out for when he is choosing which stories to tell.
Snoopy’s connection to the Sudanese filmmaking industry began when he took on an acting role in a small production when he was still at university in Khartoum. This experience, in 2013, was a catalyst for Snoopy who sensed his own potential to become more involved in the industry and to even produce his own films. Together with a group of friends who shared his vision of striking out alone, they set up their own production company, which they called In Deep Visions. The company started small with short productions including a fiction film Marina and two short horror movies The Curse and The Curse ll. While working at the company, Snoopy continued to be involved with other filmmakers and their productions as an actor or cameraman. One example is his shooting of the film Khartoum Offside directed by Marwa Zein about the travails of a Sudanese women’s football team trying to defy social and political odds to play their beloved game professionally.
The Sudanese Revolution of 2018-2019 was a historic moment which inspired young creatives with the sense of freedom and change it promised. Snoopy and In Deep Visions were no exception. He took part in shooting the film Sudan Remember Us directed by Hind Meddeb, which captured the joy and hope of the Sudanese people during their Revolution. A Journey to Kenya, a film documenting the trip undertaken by a Sudanese jiu-jitsu team to take part in a tournament in Kenya with minimal funds and having to overcome countless adversities en route in their clapped out mini-bus, was produced by In Deep Visions shortly after hopes of the Revolution’s success began to diminish.
Another monumental event for Sudan was the war that broke out in 2023 and which shattered the lives of millions with the extreme violence that was unleashed. As a result, Snoopy and many other young creatives were forced to leave Sudan, with many of them settling in neighbouring countries. Now residing in Kenya, Snoopy continues to work on a range of projects including co-directing the feature documentary Khartoum, a joint production by ‘Native Film Voices’ and the ‘Sudan Film Factory’. Shooting on this film began before the war following the lives of five individuals in Khartoum and the adversities they have to overcome. The film had not yet been finalised when fighting broke out and as a result, the team has had to tweak the storyline and creative cinematic effects were incorporated to finalise production.
Stories of resilience, according to Snoopy, are of becoming a success story and of accomplishing dreams or achieving goals. He believes that while everyone has dreams and goals in life, not everyone can achieve these, sometimes because they lack inspiration or knowledge of how to proceed. In order to achieve their goals, Snoopy claims they must have a plan and be inspired by someone from their own community, “I need the Michael Jordan of my own community so that I can believe in myself more”, he explains. Spoopy points out that while many inspiring Sudanese success stories can be found on sites like Facebook, most of the time these types of stories are not represented or documented. According to the young filmmaker, having the determination to achieve goals is not contingent on age, gender or any other classification, but emphasises the importance of how this goal is reached such as whether it is achieved with others or the pace at which it is realised. Sometimes “just surviving another day is also a form of resilience”, he points out.
In response to a question about whether he thinks there is a typically Sudanese form of resilience, snoopy explains that whilst determination to achieve a specific goal is a universal attribute, small details can be said to be uniquely Sudanese, giving the example of recent protests in Kenya and how they were organised compared to how youth in Sudan mobilised during the Revolution. One of the most recent productions by In Deep Visions is the music video We’ll Return Again which taps into the resilience of the Sudanese who have had to flee the war and their deep longing to return. Snoopy describes the music and lyrics of the song as emotional and uplifting, unlike the melancholy tunes of other Sudanese songs that have been produced during wartime. The song is one of hope, telling those Sudanese who have remained in the country that “we are coming back” and that “we want to send you this message to say that we haven’t forgotten about you.”
Perhaps the best way to appreciate Snoopy’s resilience is to see what he and his friends at In Deep Visions have achieved since they set out to make their own films ten years ago. Through sheer grit and determination, they have overcome all the set-backs and “dramas” that creatives face on a daily basis in Sudan and most importantly the brutal circumstances of repression and war. An accolade of local awards including at the Taharqa, Sudan Independent, Khartoum and European film festivals have made Snoopy a household name in Sudan. This trust placed in him by the public has in turn boosted the filmmaker’s confidence in himself. It is no surprise therefore to learn that Khartoum, the film Snoopy is co-directing, is scheduled for screening in early 2025 at the prestigious, and internationally renowned, Sundance film festival. Snoopy is extremely proud of this achievement and points out that it has not been a coincidence or luck but rather the result of very hard work, creativity and determination.
On the song:
Production: In Deep Vision films and performed by Moawia Ahmed Khalid, Mohamed Adam Abu, Beha Al-ameen, and Shamseldien Alhag came out on the 10th of October “The World Mental Health Day”. The song was Produced by Niile and written by Mahmoud Algaily.
you can listen to “Raj3een Tany” official song on Soundcloud
Sponsored by Tarco aviation , Cashi, 106.6 PRO FM
Poster design : Nihal Kamal
