Set in Khartoum, just before the secession of South Sudan, a married former singer from the north seeks redemption for causing the death of a southern man by hiring his oblivious wife as her maid.

Unable to confess her transgressions, Mona decides to leave the past behind and adjust to a new status quo, unaware that the country’s turmoil may find its way into her home and put her face to face with her sins.

Goodbye Julia world premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard, where it was the first Sudanese director and film to participate in the history of the festival. It went on to win the festival’s Freedom Prize and was later Sudan’s official submission to the Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film.