new wave films
A Season in France
A film by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
Synopsis
Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s soul-searching film focuses on the plight of undocumented asylum seekers desperately trying to find sanctuary in Europe.
Abbas (Eriq Ebouaney), a college professor and father of two, seeks political asylum in France after fleeing the civil war that has raged in the Central African Republic since 2013. Widowed when his wife died in attempting to escape the country with him, he has since met Carole (Sandrine Bonnaire), who consoles him in his anguish at the French immigration system. Two years of waiting finally elicit a response from the authorities. Everything he holds dear, including his hopes for both his future and those of his children, lie in their decision. Ebouaney and Bonnaire both give compelling performances, while Haroun masterfully contrasts the intimacy of human relationships with the cold bureaucracy of a vast, impersonal system.
Premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and London Film Festival in 2017.
France 2017, 100 mins, cert 12A
Where It's On
Week Commencing 14th June
| Cine Lumiere | 17 Queensberry Place | London SW7 2DT | 020 7871 3515 | all week |
| ICA Cinema | The Mall | London SW1Y 5AH | 020 7930 3647 | all week |
| Watershed | 1 Canons Rd |
Bristol BS1 5TX |
0117 927 5100 |
all week |
| Tyneside |
10 Pilgrim St |
Newcastle NE1 6QG |
0191 227 5500 |
all week |
| Depot | Pinwell Rd |
Lewes BN7 2JS |
01273 525354 |
all week |
| Plough | 9-11 Fore St |
Gt Torrington EX38 8HQ |
01805 624624 |
18 7 20 June |
Week Commencing 21st June
| Cine Lumiere | 17 Queensberry Place | London SW7 2DT | 020 7871 3515 | to June 25 |
| ICA Cinema | The Mall | London SW1Y 5AH | 020 7930 3647 | all week |
| Watermans | 40 High St |
Brentford TW8 0DS |
020 8232 1010 |
all week |
| HOME | 2 Tony Wilson Place | Manchester M15 4FN | 0161 200 1500 | all week |
| Arthouse Crouch End | 159a Tottenham Lane | London N8 9BT | 020 8245 3099 | times tbc |
| Watershed | 1 Canons Rd | Bristol BS1 5TX | 0117 927 5100 | all week |
| Showroom | 15 Paternoster Row | Sheffield S1 2BX | 0114 275 7727 | all week |
| Tyneside | 10 Pilgrim St | Newcastle NE1 6QG | 0191 227 5500 | times tbc |
Week Commencing 28th June
| ICA Cinema | The Mall | London SW1Y 5AH | 020 7930 3647 | all week |
| Cine Lumiere | 17 Queensberry Place | London SW7 2DT | 020 7871 3515 | 2 July only |
| Hyde Park Picture House |
73 Brudenell Rd |
Leeds LS6 1JD |
0113 275 2045 |
28 Jun, 3 July |
Week Commencing 5th July
| Royal Spa Centre | Newbold Terrace |
Leamington Spa CV32 4HN |
01926 334418 |
9-11 July |
Week Commencing 12th July
| Phoenix Exeter | Gandy St |
Exeter EX4 3LS |
01392 667080 |
14-16 July |
| Heart of Hawick |
Kirkstile |
Hawick TD9 0AE |
01450 360688 |
16 July |
| Arc Stockton on Tees | Dovecott St | Stockton on Tees TS18 1LL | 01642 525199 | 12-18 July |
Week Commencing 19th July
| Arts Centre | Tavistock Place |
Plymouth PL4 8AT |
01752 206114 |
19-24 July |
| Ultimate Picture Palace | Jeune St | Oxford OX4 1BN | 01865 689605 | 20,21,24,25 July |
| Saffron Screen |
Audley End Rd |
Saffron Walden CB11 4UH |
01799 500238 |
22 July |
| Robert Burns | Mill Road | Dumfries, DG2 7BE | 01387 264808 | 23 -24 July |
| Strode Theatre | Church Road | Somerset BA16 0AB | 01458442846 | 25 July |
Week Commencing 26th July
| Triskel Arts Centre | Tobin St |
Cork |
21 427 2022 |
28 July-1 Aug |
| The Theatre |
2 Spring St |
Chipping Norton OX7 5NL |
01608 642350 |
31/7, 1/8 |
Week Commencing 9th August
| Regent St Cinema | 307 Regent St |
London W1B 2HW |
020 7911 5050 |
9,10 August |
| Phoenix |
4 Midland St |
Leicester LE1 1TG |
0116 242 2800 |
15 August |
Week Commencing 23rd August
| Filmhouse | 88 Lothian Rd |
Edinburgh EH3 9BX |
0131 228 2688 |
27-29 August |
Trailer
Director — Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
Born in Chad, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun moved to France where he studied film and worked as a journalist.
In 1999 he directed Bye-Bye Africa, winning the Best Debut Film prize in Venice. His second feature, Our Father(2002), was selected at the Directors’ Fortnight. In 2006 he was awarded the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival for Dry Season, while the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) in New York presented a retrospective exhibition of his work. In 2010 A Screaming Man picked up the Jury Prize in Cannes. That same year, Haroun received the Robert Bresson Award at the Venice Film Festival, as well as the Humanity Prize at the 34th Mostra in São Paulo, Brazil.
In 2013 he was once again in Competition at Cannes with Grigris. He also received the UNESCO Fellini Medal 2013.
Filmography
1999: BYE BYE AFRICA
2002: OUR FATHER
2006: DRY SEASON (Daratt)
2010: A SCREAMING MAN (Jury Prize in Cannes)
2013: GRIGRIS (Cannes competition)
2016: HISSEIN HABRE, A CHADIAN TRAGEDY (Special Screenings Cannes)
2017: A SEASON IN FRANCE (Une Saison en France)
Cast & Credits
|
CAST |
|
|
ABBAS |
Eriq EBOUANEY |
|
CAROLE |
Sandrine BONNAIRE |
|
ASMA |
Aalayna LYS |
|
YACINE |
Ibrahim BURAMA DARBOE |
|
ÉTIENNE |
Bibi TANGA |
|
MARTINE |
Léonie SIMAGA |
|
RÉGINE |
Régine CONAS |
|
THAMMA |
Khampha THAMMAVONGSA |
|
POLICEMAN 1 |
Stéphane MALASSENET |
|
POLICEMAN 2 |
Nathan DELLEMME |
|
MAN IN THE CEMETERY |
Marius YELOLO |
|
MADELEINE |
Sandra NKAKE |
|
CREW |
|
|
Director |
Mahamat-Saleh HAROUN |
|
Script |
Mahamat-Saleh HAROUN |
|
Director of photography |
Mathieu GIOMBINI |
|
1st Assistant Director |
François CHAILLOU |
|
Production Designer |
Éric BARBOZA |
|
Costume Designer |
Agnès NODEN |
|
Sound |
Dana FARZANEHPOUR |
|
Editor |
Jean-François ÉLIE |
|
Original Score |
Wasis DIOP |
|
Script Supervisor |
Olivia BRUYNOGHE |
|
Production Manager |
Marianne GERMAIN |
|
Location Manager |
Carmen LIMA |
|
Casting Director |
Gigi AKOKA |
|
Producer |
Florence STERN - Pili Films |
|
Coproduction |
Arte France Cinéma |
|
France 2017 |
|
|
100 minutes |
|
| Cert 12A |
Images
Click any still to enlarge
The Critics
★★★★
‘A deeply felt, compassionate film about refugees who find that one of their bitterest abasements is the loss of dignity and status.’
‘The habitual calm and gentleness of Mahamat Saleh Haroun’s film-making here has a sharp edge and an overtly political point – as well as a flourish of violent destruction and despair that blindsided me.’
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
★★★★
'It’s a compassionate and observant film that’s deceptively quiet, but beneath the surface it rages.'
Dave Calhoun, Time Out
‘The film builds toward an explicit condemnation of Europe's handling of the refugee crisis, encouraging the viewer's fury at the family's forced circumstances’.
Aisha Harris, New York Times
‘Warm and subtly heartbreaking, offering a moving vision of life for those stuck in legal and emotional limbo.’
Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter
‘This sombre, compassionate film speaks with a simple eloquence about a humanity that we seem on the verge of losing.’
Tom Charity, Sight and Sound
Links
Download Pressbook
Download Quad poster high res jpg
Download International Pressbook
Download Photo set
Trailer on Vimeo - link or download as mp4
Download Full-size .mov file of trailer
Download 1 minute trailer for social media
Clip 1 - link or download from Vimeo, link or embed from YouTube
Clip 2 - link or download from Vimeo, link or embed from YouTube
Bookings & Press
For film bookings please contact Colin Burch at Verve Pictures — [email protected]. Press resources are on the Press page.