Issraa El-Kogali

Issraa Elkogali Häggström, born in 1983 in Sudan, is a Swedish–Sudanese screenwriter and film director noted for her works such as A Handful of Dates (2019), Goodbye Julia (2023), and Wallpaper (2026). She studied performing and visual arts across the UK, US, and Sweden, and began her career with the short documentary In Search of Hip Hop, showcasing Sudanese musicians. Her notable projects include the multimedia installation Nora's Cloth and the collaborative documentary The Two Sudans, which was featured at the Berlin International Film Festival. Elkogali has been influential in exploring Sudan's cultural landscape and its recent political history through her writing, participating in the 2019 Sudanese revolution discourse. She served as co-producer on Goodbye Julia, which won the Prix de la Liberté at Cannes in 2023.