La ville de Suakin était un port florissant du Soudan. Cette ville a toujours intrigué, tout le monde ne s’accorde même pas sur l’origine de son nom. Son histoire est faite de famine & opulence, dévastation et progrès, commerce riche et déshumanisant (vente d’esclaves).
Les poèmes dans le film sont chantés par le regretté chanteur Abdel-Aziz Dawoud ; ils forment le fond musical.

Réalisateur : Hussein Shariffe (Hussain SHERIF)

1975, Soudan, docu-fiction, 32 min

avec Ilham Yousif, Fayza Amaseeh, Khadiga Fayssal, Sondr Hale

Réalisateur & Scénariste : Hussein Shariffe
Images : Abdel Moneim Aladawy
Montage: Allan Ballard

Production:
Sudanese National Council for the Arts, Sudan Film Unit, Sudan

The « Dislocation of Amber » was filmed in the city of Suakin, a formerly flourishing port (of slaves) in Sudan. All those who have previously written on Suakin admitted to the complexity of the town as a subject. So intriguing is Suakin that not even the origin of its name is agreed upon. Its history is one of famine & opulence, devastation and progress, rich trade and damage, involving colonialism. What makes Suakin so abidingly memorable is its resilience, built through war and conquests, the historical town is a product of determination and competitiveness.
Today the city lies in ruins, a shadow of its former self. Shariffe used symbols – scorpions, seashells, and camel caravans – to accentuate a sense of utter desertion. Suakin’s vacant coral buildings, a naked man crucified, slaves by the sea crouching on the beach, all lend signs to the film. Starting from his selection of the title of the film « Dislocation of Amber » which is self explanatory, no amber can be dislocated, it is too difficult to do that, but the name provides a metaphorical likeness to disassociating beauty from ugliness and life from none.
The poems in the film were sung by the late Sudanese singer Abdel-Aziz Dawoud providing background music.

a film by Hussein Shariffe

1975, Sudan, docu-fiction, 32 min

starring Ilham Yousif, Fayza Amaseeh, Khadiga Fayssal, Sondr Hale



Year: 1975
Runtime: 32 minutes
Language: Arabic

NOTE OF INTENTION
« Only faint traces of its ancient affluence are apparent today… a dimmed reflection in a cracked mirror; empty eyes with the stars in a different house, laughter in another room »
Hussein Shariffe, 1974.

Director and Scriptwriter: Hussein Shariffe
Photography: Abdel Moneim Aladawy
Editing: Allan Ballard

Production:
Sudanese National Council for the Arts, Sudan Film Unit, Sudan