A Screaming Man
| A Screaming Man | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Mahamat Saleh Haroun |
| Produced by | Randy Florence |
| Written by | Mahamat Saleh Haroun |
| Starring | Youssouf Djaoro |
| Music by | Wasis Diop |
| Cinematography | Laurent Brunet |
| Edited by | Marie-Hélène Dozo |
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Production
company |
Pili Films
Goï Goï Productions |
| Distributed by | Pyramide Distribution |
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Release date
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Running time
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92 minutes |
| Country | France Belgium Chad |
| Language |
French Arabic |
| Budget | € 2 million |
A Screaming Man (French: Un homme qui crie) is a 2010 French-Chadian drama film by Mahamat Saleh Haroun, starring Youssouf Djaoro and Diouc Koma. It revolves around the current civil war in Chad, and tells the story of a man who sends his son to war in order to regain his position at an upscale hotel. Themes of fatherhood and the culture of war are explored. Principal photography took place on location in N'Djamena and Abéché. The film won the Jury Prize at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.
Adam (Youssouf Djaoro), a former central African swimming champion, is the pool attendant at a luxury hotel. He is known as Champ. As an economy measure Mrs. Wang, the manager, demotes him to gate security guard and his son Abdel is made pool attendant. The local chief pressures Adam to give money towards Chad's fight against rebel forces, chastising him for not attending a cause meeting. The chief tells Adam of how he sent his 17-year-old son to fight in the war. He also tells Adam he has three days to pay money to support the cause. To regain his post Adam volunteers Abdel for the army and troops come to the family home to draft him. Adam resumes his job as pool attendant. A 17-year-old woman, Abdel's pregnant de facto wife, arrives at Adam's home and is taken in and cared for. The conflict worsens and the townspeople flee. Adam tells his daughter-in-law of his treachery and she breaks down. Adam rethinks his position and takes his motorcycle with sidecar to the war zone to bring Abdel home. He finds Abdel seriously wounded- eye, neck, right arm and abdomen. That night Adam takes Abdel from the hospital, places him in the sidecar and heads for home. On the journey Abdel says he wishes to swim in the river. Abdel dies as they reach the river. Adam floats the corpse in the river which takes the body away. The End.
Adam's and Abdel's relationship is the main focus of the film's story, and according to the director it relates to modern day Chad: "Between the father and the son is the transportation of memory, genes, and culture. It's particularly important here because men conduct the war in Chad. The unrest in Chad has lasted 40 years and it's the father who has transmitted the culture of war to his son, because otherwise there is no reason for the son to get involved." Mahamat Saleh Haroun intentionally resisted from going into detail about the civil war in Chad and politics: "The film recounts the point of view of this character and he hasn't got a position with the rebels or the government; to his life the two forces are abstract and so it would not matter if he was for the rebels or the government as this would not stop the war."
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