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The films that defy censorship
From Sudan to Iran to Saudi Arabia, directors continue to battle repressive regimes to make and exhibit cinema – and flourish in spite of the obstacles, writes Kaleem Aftab.
In 1989 the blooming cinema industry in Sudan came crashing down like the Berlin Wall.
- Kaleem Aftab
- BBC
On 1 July of that year, a coup saw Omar al-Bashir take power, and until he was deposed in 2019, he pursued a hardline Islamist agenda.
Cinema suffered.
Support for the production of Sudanese films collapsed, and government-owned cinemas were sold off.
Operating cinemas became an…