No Simple Way Home

This deeply personal documentary is an intergenerational story of love, loss and belonging. After growing up in exile, director Akuol de Mabior returns home to South Sudan to follow her mother’s path to becoming vice president. Her late father led the liberation movement for over twenty years and is revered as the founding father of South Sudan. While her mother becomes central to a new government and a fragile peace agreement, Akuol struggles to come to terms with what it means to call South Sudan home.

The magnitude of attempting to document even a fraction of what is happening in South Sudan is daunting. I had told myself that I would work up to the point where I believed myself ready to take on this monumental task. I realise that the moment is now. I am making this film because, in my view, an intergenerational conversation is needed in Africa. I am making this film to address the omission of women’s contributions in our stories and histories. I am making this film because my country needs documentary filmmakers, and I need my country.

Director Akuol de Mabior