A Screaming Man

Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, writer-director of A SCREAMING MAN, is one of Francophone Africa's leading directorial talents. His quietly devastating story surrounds Adam, a dignified man in his mid-50s who is a former swimming champion. Adam has worked for 30 years as the pool attendant at an expensive hotel in Chad's capital city of N'Djamena. His 20-year-old son Abdel, the light of his life, works alongside him. But the hotel is taken over by Chinese management and Adam finds himself a victim of downsizing, with Abdel installed in his position. Adam is distressed and humiliated; the pool is his life. He's embarrassed to discover that he's jealous of his son. Meanwhile, with rebels battling the government of Chad, civil war seems imminent. A shadowy acquaintance pushes him to donate funds to the anti-rebel cause. When Adam is unable to do so, government troops come and “forcibly enlist” Abdel. With his beloved son gone, rebel forces closing in, and Abdel's pregnant girlfriend to take care of, Adam's comfortable world is turned upside down. A SCREAMING MAN was awarded the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. (In French and Arabic with subtitles) –B.B.