The Promotion of Sudanese Archaeological Heritage Through Documentary Film and Digital Media

This chapter provides a short overview of home-grown Sudanese and international film documentaries about Sudanese archaeology in cinema, TV and social media. It will discuss their contributions to the promotion of Sudan’s collective cultural heritage and future directions. Sudan is the third largest country in Africa, and has over 500 ethnic groups, each with its own local language, as well as a variety of climatic zones that have resulted in remarkable cultural diversity (Ahmed 1982; El-Gailany 2009). Sudan has a rich archaeological heritage, with important sites dating from prehistory, with continuity until the Islamic period (Adams 1977). This rich archaeological heritage has attracted documentary makers to produce attractive and informative documentaries about Sudanese archaeology, and in an era of cultural globalisation, documentary formats offer important opportunities to capture, preserve, discuss and disseminate national and regional cultural traditions, for Sudanese residents, the diaspora and an international audience. These documentaries aimed to interpret and promote the unique cultural heritage of Sudan, which remains an underdeveloped aspect of regional filmmaking. The existence of various internationally important archaeological sites and ongoing archaeological discoveries in post-conflict Sudan, offers numerous opportunities for a new era of archaeological documentary-making and sharing, especially using digital media.