Hajooj Kuka is the founder of Refugee Club and the director of ''
Beats of the Antonov
''Beats of the Antonov'' is a documentary film released in 2014. It is a Sudanese-South African coproduction, directed by Sudanese filmmaker Hajooj Kuka and produced by Hajooj Kuka and Steven Markovitz. The film documents the Sudan–SRF ...
''. Kuka was born in Sudan of the Mahas ethnic group, but relocated with his family to
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area.
...
. Kuka travels frequently between
Nuba Mountains
The Nuba Mountains ( ar, جبال النوبة), also referred to as the Nuba Hills, is an area located in South Kordofan, Sudan. The area is home to a group of indigenous ethnic groups known collectively as the Nuba peoples. In the Middle Ages, ...
and the Blue Niles for his creative works. He resides in both Sudan and Kenya.
In 2020 he was admitted as a member of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...
.
Education
Kuka studied Electrical Engineering at
American University of Beirut
The American University of Beirut (AUB) ( ar, الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, aut ...
(AUB) and Digital Design at
San Jose State University
San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sys ...
, California, USA. He began taking a variety of art classes which gradually led to his interest in filmmaking.
Career
Kuka moved back to Nuba around 2012 and begin working on documentary projects. In 2014 his documentary ''
Beats of the Antonov
''Beats of the Antonov'' is a documentary film released in 2014. It is a Sudanese-South African coproduction, directed by Sudanese filmmaker Hajooj Kuka and produced by Hajooj Kuka and Steven Markovitz. The film documents the Sudan–SRF ...
'' about war, music, and identity won the People's Choice Award at
2014 Toronto International Film Festival
The 39th annual Toronto International Film Festival, the 39th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held in Canada from 4–14 September 2014. David Dobkin's film '' The Judge'', starring Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duv ...
. Kuka worked on this documentary for two years with the aim of telling a story that worth sharing with the world. Through his efforts, Kuka was listed in the ''
Foreign Policy
A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...
'' magazine as one of the Leading Global Thinkers of 2014 in the Chroniclers category. He also co-founded a Sudanese artist collective called The Refugee Club, whose members include the American-Sudanese singer
Alsarah
Alsarah (Arabic: السارة) (born 1982) is a Sudanese-American singer, songwriter, and ethnomusicologist. She is the leader of the group Alsarah & the Nubatones, and has performed with other groups such as The Nile Project. Her stage name is a ...
.
In 2018, Kuka directed his first narrative feature film ''
aKasha
Akasha or Akash (Sanskrit ' ) means space or sky or æther in traditional Indian cosmology, depending on the religion. The term has also been adopted in Western occultism and spiritualism in the late 19th century. In many modern Indo-Aryan la ...
'', which premiered at the
Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...
in August 2018.
Kuka is also a war correspondent in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan.Beats of Antonov ''tiff.'', Retrieved February 22, 2015.
Activism
Kuka is an active member of Girifna, a non-violent resistance movement in Sudan. Kuka works with various activists in Sudan and in the diaspora for a transformed state of affairs in the country. Despite the non-violence stance, the Sudanese government hunts, tortures and jails Sudanese activists at will, and Kuka who has been detained himself, protests for their releases.
In September 2020, Kuka was one of several artists arrested after religious militants attacked a theatre rehearsal where he was participating. Several film industry figures, including producer
Steven Markovitz
Steven Markovitz (born 1965) is a South African film and television producer. He has produced, co-produced and executive-produced features, documentaries and short films. Steven has been producing and distributing for over 20 years. Since 2007, h ...
and
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...