THE DAM
by Ali Cherri
synopsis
North Sudan, Merowe Dam. Abu Salma, a seasonal worker from Darfur, works in a traditional brickyard on the Nile, downstream of the dam. Just like his exiled companions, he spends his days in the mud, far from his loved ones and in exhausting labour. Each night, he secretly works on the erection of a structure, a tall shape made out of mud, wood, and plastic. As the mud builds over the solid skeleton of the structure, it begins to take on an almost organic-looking form. One day, as he returns from Jebel Barkal, the mystical mountain, his creation has mysteriously disappeared. Soon strange occurrences begin to take place, and Abu Salma starts to get the uneasy feeling that someone or something is watching him.
international title: | The Dam |
original title: | Alssd |
country: | France, Canada, Sudan, Germany, Serbia |
sales agent: | Indie Sales |
year: | 2022 |
genre: | fiction |
directed by: | Ali Cherri |
film run: | 80' |
screenplay: | Ali Cherri, Geoffroy Grison, Bertrand Bonello |
cast: | Maher El Khair |
cinematography by: | Bassem Fayad |
film editing: | Isabelle Manquillet, Nelly Quettier |
art director: | Abbass Alkhalifa |
music: | Robin "Rob" Coudert |
producer: | Janja Kralj |
co-producer: | Imane Farès, Martin Hampel, Alsamoual Hussein, Thanassis Karathanos, Vanja Milanovic, Vladimir Perisic |
associate producer: | Remi Bonhomme |
production: | KinoElektron, Galerie Imane Farès, Twenty Twenty Vision, Trilema Films, Vega Foundation (CA), DGL Travel HQ (SD) |