Award-winning director Hajooj Kuka on the realities of life in a wartorn country, and the inspiration for aKasha, his first feature film

Sudan-based Hajooj Kuka set out to document life in refugee camps. His films include Beats of the Antonov – on war, music and the resilience of the people of the Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains – and Darfur’s Skeleton, which tells the stories of Sudanese people displaced by conflict. He co-founded the Refugee Club, bringing together artists with similar backgrounds to highlight the plight of displaced people in Sudan.

A new film, aKasha, is a comedy, despite being set in a conflict zone. “The revolution needs to be fun,” he explains. “You can’t achieve change with just one election – you need to go on and on, and the struggle must be creative, it must be hopeful.”

Subscribe via Acast, Apple Podcasts Audioboom, Soundcloud, Mixcloud&Sticher. Join the discussion on Facebook and Twitter and email us at podcasts@theguardian.com