Help Make "BIDAYA" a Reality!

Hello! I'm Sara Elhassan, reaching out to you all from Oakland, CA. I'm an avid supporter of the (Sudanese) Arts, and friend of this glorious team for whom we are trying to raise funds.

I'll let them speak in their own words: 

WHO WE ARE

We are three sisters - artists and producers from Sudan:
 
- Mai Elgizouli: Multifaceted artist, illustrator, animator, and music video director with an interest in fashion, especially accessories design.

- Sally Elgizouli: contemporary artist with experience in illustration, accessories and fashion design; aspires to bring creative extraordinary designs to the Art of fashion in Sudan and the region.

- Hiba Elgizouli:  Singer, songwriter, composer, keyboard player and performer.
 
We officially came together as a team during the making of the Rival music video.



THE CHALLENGES

Rival was a labor of love, passion, and dedication – not only for us, but for the team of videographers, editors, and sound engineers who helped bring the song to life and screen. It was a zero budget project  inspired by Sudanese culture and traditional Sudanese costumes, national identity in Sudan and the power of women.

Putting together an ambitious project like Rival was a challenge in itself, made all the more difficult by the complete lack of funding. But with the help of young Sudanese artists who volunteered their time, expertise and equipment, we were able to complete it.

Rival was released on April 15, 2018, and in just a week clocked more than 50,000 views on Facebook . (you can find the post here: ). We could have never anticipated the amazing feedback we received from people all around the world.

Most important were the messages from Sudanese youth saying how much this project has inspired them to be themselves, follow their dreams and work hard despite the difficulties they face in the country.
 


THE NEW PROJECT - BIDAYA

This feedback has been a sign and source of motivation for us to start working on our new project, and to make it even bigger and better! But the reality is, to make our vision come to life, we need financial support to make our vision a reality and with the level of quality and professionalism to which we aspire.
 
The new original song BIDAYA (English: "Beginning"), written by Hiba Elgizouli, involves multiple messages around the empowerment of the youth, and young women and girls in particular. It also carries the message of hope and self love, and demonstrates how powerful these forces can be regardless of the chaos we encounter in life.

BIDAYA is a new type of music video, unusual to the media scene in Sudan. The idea is a set of images inspired by our heritage that incorporate our nature, our fashion and our people, presented in a modern way.

The video will be filmed and produced in Sudan, specifically in different villages in both Nile River State and Northern State, which in themselves represent the homelands of our ancestors. In these areas, the pristine nature of the Nile river and the desert meet, cradling the beautifully simple mud houses of its inhabitants.  

Through the video, we aim to send both an external and internal message that highlights the beauty of our people, land and culture.
 
YOUR IMPACT

Any contribution you make will go straight into the project. We need $2,000 to complete the production of our music video. 

The $2,000 we hope to earn will pay for: 

·      $950 – Transportation to shooting location (including transportation of the 15 person crew (camera men, assistant, actors, designer and director) from Khartoum to River Nile and Northern State and back.)

·      $635 – Costumes and designs (the video will contain pictures for the singer and the actors wearing different designs following the concept of the video.) 

·      $ 415 – Refreshment and Catering (shooting in River Nile and Northern State will take approximately 5 days, during which refreshment and catering for the crew will be needed.)

Total: $2000

Sara, here: once the funds are raised, I will be withdrawing them and delivering them in person to the Gizouli sisters so that they may make their vision a reality!
 
A TOKEN OF OUR APPRECIATION

We are deeply grateful to everyone who chooses to donate to help make our project a reality.

As a sign of our gratitude, we'd like to offer the following:

-      For those donating $25 or more, you will be sent a personalized thank you letter and digital still shot from the Rival video!

-      For those donating $50 or more,  you will be sent a personalized thank you video and digital still shot from the Rival video!

-      For those donating $100 or more, you will be provided with a sneak peak viewing of the video before it is released to the general public, as well as a digital still shot from the Rival video!

Thank you for supporting our passion!