Kawalis | Cinema, Television & Theater from the Arab World
Telling Stories from Chad & Sudan in Their Local Voice | Filmmaker Bentley Brown
Jul 15, 2026 · 1 hr 3 min · 11 segments
Moving to Chad as a child in the late 1990s, filmmaker and scholar Bentley Brown grew up speaking Chadian Arabic. He discusses how his unique upbringing shaped his perspective on identity and…
Moving to Chad as a child in the late 1990s, filmmaker and scholar Bentley Brown grew up speaking Chadian Arabic. He discusses how his unique upbringing shaped his perspective on identity and storytelling and explores the complexities of being a chameleon between cultures. Using film and comedy to bridge gaps in understanding and challenge misconceptions about the Sahel region, he tells us about his early films screened at international festivals and his presence on social media to his recent work documenting the Sudanese Revolution and water crises in Chad, highlighting the power of art to preserve history and navigate the in-between spaces of global identity. 0:00 An Identity Formed in the Sahel 06:05 The Ethics of the Storyteller 12:07 Comparative Dialectology and Global Connections 22:56 Comedy as a Tool for Cultural Critique 29:33 Filming the Sudanese Revolution from Afar 40:08 Water, Trauma, and the Chadian Landscape 55:03 Chadian Music and the Synthesizer Revolution Bentley Brown is a filmmaker and scholar whose work revolves around disidentification, language, and artistic translations of science. A Berlinale Talent, Durban Talent, and Africa Movie Academy Awards nominee, Brown’s past films include Behind the Sun (Hot Docs 2023), First Feature (International Film Festival Rotterdam 2019), and Oustaz (Berlinale 2016). Brown holds a PhD in Emergent Technologies and Media Arts Practices from the University of Colorado Boulder and has served as an Assistant Professor at the American University of Sharjah since 2023. Connect with Bentley Brown 👉 https://instagram.com/waldbrown Hosted by Mikey Muhanna Connect directly with Mikey Muhanna 👉 https://instagram.com/mikey\_mu Theme music: Peninsular, Tarek Yamani 🔊 https://spoti.fi/47I59ns FOLLOW & RATE THE KAWALIS PODCAST: » Apple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/afikra-movie-night/id1646405109 » Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6wG6CeZgE9LGtOVKwB6d5U » Anghami: https://play.anghami.com/podcast/1044639402 THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK Explore all episodes in this series: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfYG40bwRKl7IMTj6Jk7yAJXCMMqxaP5A&feature=shared ABOUT AFIKRA afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity. 📍 Local events in 40+ locations worldwide http://afikra.com/chapters 🎧 New podcasts + videos weekly http://afikra.com/podcasts ⚡ Become a member: https://www.afikra.com/membership 🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afikra\_ 🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afikra.official 🔗 Twitter: https://twitter.com/afikra Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Moving to Chad as a child in the late 1990s, filmmaker and scholar Bentley Brown grew up speaking Chadian Arabic. He discusses how his unique upbringing shaped his perspective on identity and…
