Issraa Elkogali is a Sudanese filmmaker, writer, and producer whose work blends art with activism. Born in Khartoum and now based in Stockholm, Sweden, Issraa co-produced Goodbye Julia, winner of the 2023 Cannes Un Certain Regard Freedom Prize, and co-wrote The Second Message (2021–2024), optioned by Mohamed Kordofani in 2024 for their upcoming film About Love & September Laws.
Issraa wrote and executive produced the award-winning short A Handful of Dates (2020), and her debut documentary short In Search of Hip Hop (2013) screened at festivals in 15 countries and was acquired by BBC Arabic.
Her work continues to feature in international festivals. She holds an MFA in Film from Boston University (2003) and an MA in Film & New Media from Stockholm University of the Arts (2025).
In 2021, she founded Riverflower, an independent production company focused on diverse narratives and social impact storytelling.
Works included in the exhibition are:
2 Silk Screen-prints from the Toub Series. The prints are made from photographs of Dr. Tamadour Sir Alhassan MD modelling the way the Sudanese traditional garment is worn. The pieces are a part of the multi-media installation work Nora’s Cloth.
Reading Ibsen in Khartoum, a video diptych using green-screen animation technique featuring the activist and citizen journalist, Sara Elhassan, reading Henrik Ibsen’s play “A Doll House” and the artist in multiple avatars of herself putting on a colourful traditional Sudanese garment. This work is also from the Nora’s Cloth multi-media installation.
1 Silk-screen print Darfur Smile, made from a portrait of a woman named Fatima, whom Issraa met in Al-Fashir in 2011. The orange colour was chosen in solidarity with the grass-roots movement Girifna.
A visual poem, Arabica Bön, is the Issra’s first art work in Swedish. The title is a play on the Swedish words bean and prayer in reference with the artist’s own narrated poem featured in the video. This work was devised during the pandemic and is a reflection on the experience of immigration and longing for ritual and belonging. The soundtrack has 3 layers, the poem, a song and a whispered prayer recitation. The song is an old Sudanese lullaby recorded by Issraa for her 2 children. The whispered prayer is a protective verse known as the verse of the Throne, from the second chapter of the Quran.
Translation of Arabica Bön in English:
All language is God’s Language
