Mahamat-Saleh Haroun sets his sights on the Berlinale with Soumsoum, the Night of the Stars
- With his Pili Films production sold by Films Boutique, full of visions and the struggle for freedom in the heart of Africa, the filmmaker will be competing for the Golden Bear for the first time
After competing at Cannes and Venice, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun is set to achieve a hat trick at major film festivals, as his new film, Soumsoum, the Night of the Stars, will make its world premiere in competition at the 76th Berlinale (12–22 February). This is the Franco-Chadian filmmaker's ninth feature film, following the documentary Bye Bye Africa (special mention for Best First Feature Film at Venice in 1999), Abouna (Cannes Directors' Fortnight 2002), Daratt – Dry Season [+see also:
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The cast includes Maïmouna Miawama from Chad (making her big screen debut), Eriq Ebouaney, a French actor of Cameroonian origin (who reunites with the director after A Season in France, and who also appeared in Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven and 35 Shots of Rum [+see also:
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Written by the director with writer Laurent Gaudé as co-author, the screenplay plunges into an isolated village in Chad, where Kellou is haunted by visions she does not understand. Thanks to her encounter with Aya, an exiled woman with painful secrets, she will discover another way of looking at her past, her dreams and her village. But when she defends Aya, whom the village chief is trying to drive out, she faces the fear and anger of the villagers and must fight to retain her freedom.
Produced by Florence Stern for the French company Pili Films and co-produced by the Chadian company Goï-Goï Productions, Soumsoum, the Night of the Stars has been pre-purchased by Ciné+ OCS and TV5 Monde. Also supported by the CNC's advance on revenues and the Red Sea Fund, the feature film is sold internationally by the German company Films Boutique (a subsidiary of the French group Playtime) and will be distributed in France by KMBO.
(Translated from French)
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