Daratt (Dry Season)
Sat 1 Nov at 3.30pm
Mahamat-Saleh Haroun | Chad 2006 | 1h36m | 35mm | Arabic and French with English subtitles | 15
Chad, 2006. The government has granted amnesty to all war criminals. Atim,
16 years old, is given a revolver by his grandfather to avenge his
father's death by killing the man responsible. He quickly locates him:
former war criminal Nassara is now married and settled down as the owner
of a small bakery. Atim gets closer to Nassara under the guise of looking
for work, and is hired as an apprentice baker. Intrigued by Atim's attitude
toward him, Nassara takes him under his wing and teaches him the secrets of
making bread and, over the weeks, a strange relationship evolves between the
two. Despite his disgust, Atim seems to recognise in Nassara the father
figure he has always needed, while Nassara sees the teenager as a potential son.
Haroun has grafted a moving modern parable that is a worthy follow up to his previous
film Abouna (screened at AiM 2006). It shows how personal strength and wisdom
can overcome the cycles of violence that are left by many countries and confirms
Haroun as a committed humanist as well as a gifted filmmaker.