Hajooj Kuka

Hajooj Kuka is the founder of Refugee Club and the director of Beats of the Antonov.[1] Kuka was born in Sudan of the Mahas ethnic group, but relocated with his family to Abu Dhabi.[2] Kuka travels frequently between Nuba Mountains and the Blue Niles for his creative works. He resides in both Sudan and Kenya.

hajooj kuka
Born (1976-05-08) May 8, 1976
Sudan
NationalitySudanese
Alma materAmerican University of Beirut, San Jose State University
OccupationDirector, War Correspondent
Years active2004–present
Notable work
Beats of the Antonov, aKasha

Education

Kuka studied Electrical Engineering at American University of Beirut (AUB) and Digital Design at San Jose State University, California, USA. He began taking a variety of art classes which gradually lead to his interest in filmmaking.[3]

Career

Kuka moved back to Nuba around 2012 and begin working on documentary projects.[4] In 2014 his documentary Beats of the Antonov about war, music, and identity won the People's Choice Award at 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. Kuka worked on this documentary for two years with the aim of telling a story that worth sharing with the world.[5] Through his efforts, Kuka was listed in the Foreign Policy magazine as one of the Leading Global Thinkers of 2014 in the Chroniclers category.[6] He also co-founded a Sudanese artist collective called The Refugee Club, whose members include the American-Sudanese singer Alsarah.[7]

In 2018, Kuka directed his first narrative feature film aKasha, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in August 2018.[8]

Kuka is also a war correspondent in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan.[9]

Activism

Kuka is an active member of Girifna, a non-violent resistance movement in Sudan. Kuka works with various activists in Sudan and in the diaspora for a transformed state of affairs in the country. Despite the non-violence stance, the Sudanese government hunts, tortures and jails Sudanese activists at will, and Kuka who has been detained himself, protests for their releases.[10]

gollark: ~~TJ09 should just remove sickness already~~
gollark: There must be thousands.
gollark: I wonder how they got the codes for them though?
gollark: Hmm, you're right.
gollark: We are, but they just get depleted stupidly fast.

References
  1. Music of resistance in Sudan's rebel regionsThe Guardian, Retrieved 14, 2015.
  2. Stephens, Danielle (producer) (21 November 2018). 'Suddenly you have to run for your life': a film-maker's take on life in Sudan (podcast). The Guardian. Event occurs at 3:15. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  3. Stephens, Danielle (producer) (21 November 2018). 'Suddenly you have to run for your life': a film-maker's take on life in Sudan (podcast). The Guardian. Event occurs at 7:30. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  4. Stephens, Danielle (producer) (21 November 2018). 'Suddenly you have to run for your life': a film-maker's take on life in Sudan (podcast). The Guardian. Event occurs at 9:14. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  5. TIFF: Beats Bags The Big Prize Archived 2015-01-20 at the Wayback Machine, Strictly Docs, September 15, 2014.
  6. A World Disrupted: The Leading Global Thinkers of 2014 FP, Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  7. Stephens, Danielle (producer) (21 November 2018). 'Suddenly you have to run for your life': a film-maker's take on life in Sudan (podcast). The Guardian. Event occurs at 15:16. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  8. Vourlias, Christopher (29 August 2018). "Venice: Two Refugee Sudanese Actors Unable to Attend Film Premiere". Variety. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  9. Beats of Antonov Archived 2015-01-23 at the Wayback Machine tiff., Retrieved February 22, 2015.
  10. #FreeHassanIshaq: a journalist tortured in detention Girifna, June 22, 2014.
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