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Al-Mahatta, an example of Sudanese ecocinma
While the term ecocinema typically invokes nature and wildlife documentaries, it could be argued that Al-Mahatta also fits within this genre through offering a critique of the social and environmental impacts of Sudan's oil industry during its boom in the late 1980s.
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Al-Mahatta, a 1989 experimental film by Sudanese director Eltayeb Mahdi, could be considered an example of ecocinema, a genre of film that provokes discourse and action on environmental issues, often highlighting the relationship between human and non-human worlds. While the term ecocinema typically invokes nature and wildlife documentaries, it could be argued that Al-Mahatta also fits within this genre through offering a critique of the social and environmental impacts of Sudan's oil industry during its boom in the late 1980s. The film, although produced before the widespread acknowledgment of human responsibility for the climate catastrophe, can be approached retrospectively through an eco-critical lens that focuses on the human-nonhuman relationships depicted, particularly through the conflict between traditional lifestyles or indigenous knowledge and modern industrialization.
Al-Mahatta is a snapshot of life on a main crossroad on the road between central Sudan and the Red Sea coast with a narrative revolving around the people, animals and oil tankers and large lorries who frequent the place. The tankers and trucks, used by Mahdi as symbols of wealth and progress for a select few, illustrate a sharp contrast with the impoverished local population living on the margins of the new industry. The tankers and their drivers represent industrial forces, disrupting the natural environment with their heavy machinery, smoke, and dust storms. In contrast, locals, who rely for their livelihood on petty, menial jobs, are portrayed as patient, resilient, and deeply connected to their harsh environment. This contrast is visually emphasized by the difference in dress: the local people wear traditional Sudanese attire, adapted to the desert climate, while the tanker drivers and wealthier figures don Western clothing, marking them as part of an alien, modern world.
The opening scene of the film, in which a caravan of camels steps onto a freshly built tarmac road cutting through the desert, sets the tone for the film's eco-critical narrative. The camels, part of the natural landscape, are forced to adapt to human-made changes, symbolizing the larger disruption that the oil industry brings to the environment. This juxtaposition of nature and industry highlights the environmental degradation caused by human activity, as the road and the tankers that travel it pollute their surroundings.
In Al-Mahatta, the line between humans and animals is often blurred. The film’s depiction of a group of men walking slowly alongside the road, wearing identical traditional jalabiyas, mirrors a caravan of camels, emphasizing their shared environment and co-dependence. The people and animals, though different species, are shown as companions enduring the same harsh conditions. This ‘zoomorphism’ suggests that human and non-human lives are interconnected, particularly in their mutual subjugation by industrial forces.
Social injustice is another key theme in the film, emphasized through the disparity between the wealth circulating within the oil industry and the poverty of those living around it. This is evident in scenes depicting wads of money in lorry drivers' glove compartments contrasted with the single notes exchanged by tradespeople, such as a child shining shoes or a woman selling tea. The relationship between the local people and the oil industry, in this sense, is parasitic: they survive off the scraps of a system that exploits their land while offering them little in return.
The final scenes of Al-Mahatta, which show children playing with makeshift trucks made of discarded materials, offer a pessimistic view of Sudan’s future. The children aspire to wealth, yet the film suggests that unless systemic changes occur, their dreams of prosperity will remain unfulfilled. This message resonates strongly today, as the environmental and social costs of extractive industries continue to shape Sudan's landscape and its people's futures. The film's message is prophetic, anticipating Sudan’s future extractive industries, like gold mining, which have similarly destructive impacts on the landscape and local communities. Ultimately, Al-Mahatta fits within the ecocinema genre precisely because it prompts its viewers to think critically about, and discuss environmental and social problems facing Sudan.
Cover picture and Gallery: Screenshots for the film Al-Mahatta © Arsenal
Al-Mahatta, a 1989 experimental film by Sudanese director Eltayeb Mahdi, could be considered an example of ecocinema, a genre of film that provokes discourse and action on environmental issues, often highlighting the relationship between human and non-human worlds. While the term ecocinema typically invokes nature and wildlife documentaries, it could be argued that Al-Mahatta also fits within this genre through offering a critique of the social and environmental impacts of Sudan's oil industry during its boom in the late 1980s. The film, although produced before the widespread acknowledgment of human responsibility for the climate catastrophe, can be approached retrospectively through an eco-critical lens that focuses on the human-nonhuman relationships depicted, particularly through the conflict between traditional lifestyles or indigenous knowledge and modern industrialization.
Al-Mahatta is a snapshot of life on a main crossroad on the road between central Sudan and the Red Sea coast with a narrative revolving around the people, animals and oil tankers and large lorries who frequent the place. The tankers and trucks, used by Mahdi as symbols of wealth and progress for a select few, illustrate a sharp contrast with the impoverished local population living on the margins of the new industry. The tankers and their drivers represent industrial forces, disrupting the natural environment with their heavy machinery, smoke, and dust storms. In contrast, locals, who rely for their livelihood on petty, menial jobs, are portrayed as patient, resilient, and deeply connected to their harsh environment. This contrast is visually emphasized by the difference in dress: the local people wear traditional Sudanese attire, adapted to the desert climate, while the tanker drivers and wealthier figures don Western clothing, marking them as part of an alien, modern world.
The opening scene of the film, in which a caravan of camels steps onto a freshly built tarmac road cutting through the desert, sets the tone for the film's eco-critical narrative. The camels, part of the natural landscape, are forced to adapt to human-made changes, symbolizing the larger disruption that the oil industry brings to the environment. This juxtaposition of nature and industry highlights the environmental degradation caused by human activity, as the road and the tankers that travel it pollute their surroundings.
In Al-Mahatta, the line between humans and animals is often blurred. The film’s depiction of a group of men walking slowly alongside the road, wearing identical traditional jalabiyas, mirrors a caravan of camels, emphasizing their shared environment and co-dependence. The people and animals, though different species, are shown as companions enduring the same harsh conditions. This ‘zoomorphism’ suggests that human and non-human lives are interconnected, particularly in their mutual subjugation by industrial forces.
Social injustice is another key theme in the film, emphasized through the disparity between the wealth circulating within the oil industry and the poverty of those living around it. This is evident in scenes depicting wads of money in lorry drivers' glove compartments contrasted with the single notes exchanged by tradespeople, such as a child shining shoes or a woman selling tea. The relationship between the local people and the oil industry, in this sense, is parasitic: they survive off the scraps of a system that exploits their land while offering them little in return.
The final scenes of Al-Mahatta, which show children playing with makeshift trucks made of discarded materials, offer a pessimistic view of Sudan’s future. The children aspire to wealth, yet the film suggests that unless systemic changes occur, their dreams of prosperity will remain unfulfilled. This message resonates strongly today, as the environmental and social costs of extractive industries continue to shape Sudan's landscape and its people's futures. The film's message is prophetic, anticipating Sudan’s future extractive industries, like gold mining, which have similarly destructive impacts on the landscape and local communities. Ultimately, Al-Mahatta fits within the ecocinema genre precisely because it prompts its viewers to think critically about, and discuss environmental and social problems facing Sudan.
Cover picture and Gallery: Screenshots for the film Al-Mahatta © Arsenal
