''The Art of Sin'' ( ar, فن الخطيئة) is a 2020 Sudanese documentary film written and directed by Ibrahim Mursal. The filming is a delicate portrait of the artist and

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

activist Ahmed Umer, who campaigns for gay visibility and seeks new forms of expression for their Sudanese-Norwegian identity.

Plot

Artist Ahmed Umar arrived in Norway in 2008 as a refugee from their native country,

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

, which at the time was one of seven nations that executed people for same-sex conduct. Seven years later, in 2015, when Umar came out on Facebook, as one of the first openly gay man from Sudan, a large portion of the Sudanese community turned against him, including relatives. Moving to Norway, Umar quickly learns that even a liberal country can be dangerous for openly gay immigrants and is beaten during a Pride event. Despite everything, Umar longs to go back and re-establish their connection to their family and country. But will they welcome him or reject him? At that time, homosexuality was still punishable by death in Sudan. Once Umar returned to Sudan, Umar tip-toes their way around the country to meet their mother and other members of the LGBT community in Sudan. The film shows the extent of fear the Sudanese LGBT community feels from the society and the law. Umar discusses the roots of

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

in Sudan and its link to

colourism Discrimination based on skin color, also known as colorism, or shadeism, is a form of prejudice and/or discrimination in which people who share similar ethnicity traits or perceived race are treated differently based on the social implications ...

in Sudan. The journey in Sudan ends with Umar taking photographs with other Sudanese LGBT, but with Umar ’s face obscuring theirs. This photographic project was later named “'' carrying the face of ugliness''” ( ar, شايل وش القباحة), which describes a person who does something unfamiliar, confronts an issue and takes the blame for it. In this case, being gay. Although the film focuses on Umar; the film director, Mursal, has to face their deeply held views rooted in

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

and

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...

. As an immigrant himself, Mursal struggles with the notion of home, identity, and belonging. The film ends with Umar becoming a Norwegian citizen, and attending the citizenship ceremony wearing an outfit that mixes Sudanese and Norwegian cultures, i.e., Identity-Embroidered. Mursal helps Umar fix their outfit before the ceremony, in contrast to sitting far away from Ahmed at the beginning of the film.

Screening and reception

Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the film was not screened until the end of 2021, accumulating mostly positive reviews. As of Oct. 2022, the film has a rating of 7.7 in

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

. The Art of Sin won the 2020 Nordic Doc's best documentary film between 30 and 60 minutes.

References

External links

The Art of Sin
website
The Art of Sin
Facebook page
The Art of Sin
trailer {{DEFAULTSORT:Art Of Sin Sudanese drama films Films set in Sudan 2020 LGBT-related films 2020 films Sudanese LGBT-related films Documentary films about gay men Gay-related films Documentary films about LGBT and Islam

Plot

Screening and reception

See also

References

External links