«ÊBeing the children of freedom fighters who became political figures means living in a bubble. Sometimes she is unstable like a target that constantly threatens to break. Other times, it is comfortable and secure. We then feel guilty because, outside, the population is suffering. In his first feature film, No Simple Way Homepresented at the Berlinale 2022 in February, is how Akuol de Mabior, 33, sums up her ambiguous relationship with her country, South Sudan, as the daughter of John Garang.
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A father lost in adolescence
This doctor in economics is considered the liberator of South Sudan. After twenty-two years of civil war, he succeeded in snatching a peace agreement with Khartoum in 2005. But he died six months later in a helicopter crash. It will therefore never know the independence that will give birth to the youngest nation in the world in 2011.
The director remembers the benevolence of this father, lost in adolescence. In the midst of his dual schedule as “military leader and seasoned diplomat,” as she describes it, he found time to help his six children with their homework. “We were aware of the risks of his work. But he had a deep sense of humor and managed to remain relaxed in all circumstances,” recalls the director.
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Mother-daughter conversations
However, it was to her mother, Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior, that she chose to devote her documentary. “I wanted to be remembered for his contribution to the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM). I was afraid that the great role of my father would overshadow it, ”sums up the former model. Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior has since been named one of the country’s five vice-presidents.
In the film, mother-daughter conversations take center stage. Akuol de Mabior nevertheless abandoned the idea of a biography during the filming. To decide, finally, to tell his own vision of the South Sudanese identity. And above all “the difficulties in reconciling our contradictions. We are a very young country, born out of the struggle for liberation. Our sacrifices generated a sense of patriotism. At the same time, how can we be patriotic when we don’t really have an identity? An identity is not built in ten years, it takes time. »READ ALSOSudan: How history education has widened the divide between north and south
Civil war and poverty
She herself has never really lived in South Sudan, although she now divides her time between Juba, Nairobi, where she grew up, and Cape Town, where she studied. “It would be a real challenge to settle there, especially from a professional point of view. In Juba, the infrastructure does not allow me to get a good internet connection which I need to edit the videos with my editor. Or else it would be very expensive. And then, many embassies cannot provide visas to travel abroad, ”explains the one who has just launched her own production company.
“I like to plan for the future,” continues Akuol de Mabior. However, nothing can be predicted in a context where everything is likely to change overnight. Most of its 11 million citizens do not have the luxury of choice. Nearly half of them live in exile, displaced in their own country or refugees abroad. The very young homeland indeed returned to civil war between 2013 and 2018. South Sudan is also on the podium of the three poorest states on the planet.
A despair that the daughter of John Garang captures in her film, showing in particular the victims of the floods after the rainy season. She knows she narrowly escaped this scenario. “My mother grew up in poverty. Her father worked as a driver for the Ministry of Education. This allowed him to send her to school. Until her uncle took her off the high school benches. This type of situation still happens now, unfortunately”, regrets the exile.
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The hope of free elections
The filmmaker does not consider herself, however, freed from social injunctions. “Our parents put pressure on us to think about getting married and having children,” she says. At the same time, they strongly encouraged us to continue our studies. It’s contradictory. Neither she nor her three sisters are married. They are therefore the subject of gossip in the media and on South Sudanese social networks. “Culturally, a woman’s value continues to rest on her ability to marry and have children. If you’re not a wife and mother at 30, what good are you? quipped Akuol de Mabior.
Despite her committed speech, this icon does not define herself as an activist for women’s rights. She would certainly vote for her mother if the widow were to run for president. But she insists: “The greatest success would be to organize free and fair elections and not for my mother to become president. Initially scheduled for 2023, the ballot may be postponed due to the delay in the implementation of the new peace agreement signed in 2018.
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