EXODUS

In the remote Nuba Mountains of Sudan, decades of war have uprooted the lives of millions, and vestiges of conflict riddle the landscapes of daily life. Yet as a new war reverberates outward from the nation's capital, this quiet region that was once a target area is now becoming a safe haven.

In this modern day exodus story, an elderly man living in Khartoum (Musa) enlists the help of a young college student (Emmanuel) to heroically facilitate the evacuation and resettlement of thousands of Sudanese back to the relative safety of their homeland. Meanwhile as Emmanuel grapples with his trauma and new identity as a refugee, nearby communities provide refuge as they learn to heal together.

My connection to East Africa began in 2007 when, as a naive art student, I stumbled into an international news story there. The people I met and the photographs I made during that journey were formative for me. Seventeen years later, I returned to Sudan at the invitation of humanitarian workers to document a rapidly devolving crisis that the world has largely overlooked. It was on this trip that I met Musa, Emmanuel and many of the 3,000 Sudanese they evacuated to the Nuba Mountains during the height of the current civil war. Over the course of 11 days, Exodus was filmed.

As the War In Sudan grinds on amidst other global conflicts and as world leaders continue to isolate and turn inward, the re-framing of migration narratives has become a moral imperative for storytellers. By providing a rare glimpse into an incredibly remote region of Sudan during a time of war, Exodus encourages audiences to reflect on universal themes of identity and place at a moment when 1 out of 67 people have been forcibly displaced worldwide. I hope this remarkable true story can be used as a vehicle for awareness and social impact on the international stage, reminding all audiences of our shared humanity.