In November and December of 2006 the New Crowned Hope Festival was held in Vienna as part of the celebrations honouring Mozart’s Year. Seven films were made for the occasion by directors who do not come from “Western” culture.
One of them, Chad-born Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, contributed with the film Dry Season, which, like Mozart’s opera La clemenza di Tito deals with the theme of the need for forgiveness and reconciliation.
After the end of the four-year civil war in Chad, all war criminals were given amnesty, including Nassara, now a modest baker. It is he who 16-year-old Atim is looking for to avenge the death of his father.
Atim has Nassara take him on as an apprentice and patiently waits for the right moment. The course of everyday events however begins to grind away at the tense emotions.
Haroun’s frank, sometimes even raw, direction shifts the initial drama without haste to a grand finale confronting Atim with a fundamental decision. --Karlovy Vary
Cast: Ali Barkai, Youssouf Djaoro, Aziza Hisseine, Khayar Oumar Defallah
Venice (Competition): Grand Special Jury Prize, Toronto, London (World Cinema), Rotterdam, San Francisco (World Cinema), Locarno (I film delle giurie: Concorso Cineasti del presente)
About this movie
Title: Dry Season | Daratt (2006)
Directed by: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
Date of birth: 1961, N'Djamena, Chad
Writing credits: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
Music: Wasis Diop
Year: 2006
Country: Chad | France
Language: French | Arabic
Color: Color
Runtime: 96 min.