Despite a paralyzed leg that could have barred most avenues, Grigris, 25 year old, dreams of being a dancer. A challenge. But his dreams are dashed when his step father falls critically ill. In order to pay the hospital bills, Grigris resolves to work for petrol traffickers… Grigris is the new film by the award winning director of A Screaming Man (Jury Prize, Cannes Film Festival 2010), Dry Season (Jury Prize, Venice Film Festival 2006) and Bye-Bye Africa (Best First Feature, Venice Film Festival 1999).
Official Selection, Competition, Cannes Film Festival 2013
Vulcain Prize for an artist technician, awarded by the C.S.T, Cannes film festival
London Film Festival 2013
Mahamat-Saleh Haroun Director
Filmography Selected
Mahamat-Saleh Haroun was born in Chad. His work was brought to the fore at the 1999 Venice Film Festival, where his first feature film Bye-Bye Africa was awarded the prize for the Best Debut Film. His second film, Abouna- Our Father, was selected at the Directors’ Fortnight in 2002. Four years later, he was awarded the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival for Daratt, while the MoMa (Museum of Modern Art) in New York devoted a retrospective exhibition to his work. In 2010, his fourth feature film, A Screaming Man, received the Jury Prize in Cannes. That same year, he also received the prestigious Robert Bresson Award at the Venice Film Festival, as well as the Humanity Prize at the 34th Mostra in São Paolo, Brazil. Grigris is his latest film. It was presented in Official Competition at the 2013 Cannes FIlm Festival.
Feature Length Films1999
Bye-Bye Africa2002
Abouna - Our Father (Abouna)2006
Daratt2008
Sexe, gombo et beurre sale2010
A Screaming Man (Un Homme qui crie)2013
GrigrisShort Films
1994 Maral Tanié
1995 Bord’ Africa
1995 Goï-Goï
1997 Sotigui Kouyaté, un griot moderne
1997 B 400
2001 Letter from New york City
2005 Kalala
“It is a typically calm, lucid drama, presented in the director’s unforced, cinematic vernacular and attractively and sympathetically acted.
The director's compassion shines out, and so does the charisma of Souleymane Deme.’
Peter Bradshaw, THE GUARDIAN
‘Grigris starts with some terrifically mesmerizing dance sequences. Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s film is a gentle and elegant drama bolstered by the emotional intensity that marks the performances from its debutante actors and which displays the talents of a director who, as in his previous work, is offering a fresh vocabulary and aesthetic of cinema.’
Keith Shiri, BFI LFF Brochure
‘Elegant, geographically vivid’
‘Renowned Senegalese musician Wasis Diop provides the film with a vibrant contemporary soundscape in its nightlife sequences… Cinematically, “Grigris” comes alive most electrically in Souleymane’s dance sequences, the camera lingering on the performer’s muscles as they knot and break with near-hypnotic suppleness.’
Guy Lodge, VARIETY
‘Strip away the African context and Grigris is a socially conscious morality play in a grand European tradition stretching back through the Dardennes and Ken Loach to the Italian neorealist movement.'
'...gently absorbing...(Haroun) frames some lovely images here. The performances are also interesting, with Deme exuding an oddly hypnotic screen presence.’
Stephan Dalton, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
‘[An] uplifting underdog story, complete with dance numbers and a sweet romantic subplot.’
‘Haroun gracefully navigates the story through several shifts in tone; the movie begins as a naturalistic musical, veers into film noir territory, and concludes as something like a feminist parable. Consistent throughout is a spirit of warm solidarity—among Grigris's family, the discotheque regulars, even some members of the crime syndicate—that makes the good cheer all but irresistible.’
Ben Sachs, CHICAGO READER
‘Grigris starts with some terrifically mesmerizing dance sequences. Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s film is a gentle and elegant drama bolstered by the emotional intensity that marks the performances from its debutante actors and which displays the talents of a director who, as in his previous work, is offering a fresh vocabulary and aesthetic of cinema.’
Keith Shiri, BFI LFF Brochure
“Exquisite balance of mise en scene, form and storytelling.”
Robert Koehler (@bhkoe)
‘Director Haroun eschews the usual social realism documentary style, and instead aims to make a more obviously cinematic work. To his and cinematographer Antoine Hébert’s credit the film is, at times, extremely easy on the eye.’
John Bleasdale, CINEVUE
‘For the second time in a row, Haroun’s entry point into the film is that of an elusive, timorous character – making for a fascinating way to peer into a world we already know little about.’ Grigris is a tragic if fundamentally gracious creation. His dancing is so brilliant to watch, as you become completely absorbed in his performance…incredible.”
‘Stefan Pape, HEYUGUYS
