aKasha (Hajooj Kuka, 2018): South Africa | Sudan | Germany | Qatar

Film reviewed by Michael Wynne. Viewed at 2018 AFI fest.

aKasha is an independent film made by the people of Sudan. It is a dark comedy about a love triangle between a war hero, his lover, and an ak-47. Before the film played, the director Hajooj Kuka spoke to the audience about the village he is from. He said that the characters and the people are all inspired by people he grew up with, and mentioned that gossip is something that is apparent in the film because he’s people “love to gossip.” Hajooj gave the crowd a few laughs before his unique comedy made its US debut.

The film starts with Adnan, a hero at war who was awarded time away for shooting down an enemy drone. Adnan is laying with his lovers Lina and Nancy. They submit us into the world by starting with a conversation about the war Adnan is fighting in. Adnan wants to be a king and tells Lina that he and Nancy will be by his side when he is. This offends Lina as she does not know who Nancy is. Adnan humorously tells Lina that Nancy is his ak-47 and she has no need to be jealous. Lina kicks Adnan out of her hut for respecting his gun more than her and so begins the wild journey full of beautiful scenery, fascinating culture, psychedelics, and a whole lot of laughs.

The description of the plot intrigued me to go see the film, I did not know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. I love a good comedy movie like anyone else. However, I knew going into the film that there would not be one word of English, so the movie had subtitles to display the dialogue. I find films significantly less funny, when you have to read what the characters are saying rather than experiencing the world and actors charisma. I slightly felt the same in this film, but the editing of the subtitles is done well. There is enough text onscreen so I could read the line and watch the character as he is saying it. I experienced the actors performances way better in than in some foreign films that will have a paragraph on screen that you need to read in five seconds. Plus the actors were GREAT across the board. Of all the films I saw at the 2018 AFI fest, aKasha is the most complete on all categories on what makes a film good.