A Visit From Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
Program One
These screenings will be preceded by A Commemoration of Geneviève McMillan (1922-2008) at 5pm and a reception in the Main Gallery of the Carpenter Center at 6pm.
The Film Study Center and the Sensory Ethnography Lab at Harvard University are hosting an evening of remembrance of the remarkable life of Geneviève McMillan, who passed away in May of this year. McMillan was an art collector, philanthropist, businesswoman, and generous supporter of the arts at Harvard. She personally established the McMillan-Stewart Fellowship in Distinguished Filmmaking at the Film Study Center.
PROGRAM
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Dry Season (Daratt)
Directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun.
With Ali Bacha Barkaï, Youssouf Djaoro, Khayar Oumar Defallah.
Chad, 2006, 35mm, color, 96 min.
Chadian Arabic with English subtitles.
Following the Chadian government’s announcement of an amnesty for war criminals after decades of civil war, teenage orphan Atim is handed a revolver a mission of vengeance by his elderly grandfather: to travel from his tiny rural village to the capital and kill the man who murdered his father many years ago. His target turns out to be not a bloodthirsty monster but a devoutly religious Muslim baker who gruffly takes the young would-be assassin under his wing as an apprentice. The elliptical story, graced with notes of humor and expressive silences, unfolds with some surprising twists before ultimately resolving into a quietly wrenching drama of personal accountability and moral choice.
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Letter from New York
Directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun.
Chad, 2001, digital video, color, 14 min.
French with English subtitles.
A video letter suspended between Africa and New York, this fictitious diary centers on Taja, a young Chadian newly arrived in New York.
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Expectations
Directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun.
With Youssouf Djaoro, Mata Gabin, Assane Kheïro.
Chad, 2008, digital video, color, 28 min.
Haroun’s latest short film about migrants in Africa tells the tale of Moussa, recently returned to his village after an unsuccessful trip to the desert and confronted by the men who lent him money for the journey.
