Mahamat-Saleh Haroun

Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (French pronunciation: ​[ma.ama sale aʁun]; Arabic: محمد الصالح هارون; born 1961; Abéché). is a Chadian filmmaker. Stylistically restrained but loaded with complex moral and political themes, Haroun’s films confront questions of individual, familial, and national responsibility with unerring compassion and profound personal insight. He left Chad during the civil wars of the 1980s. Haroun is the first Chadian full-length film director. He both writes and directs his films. Though he has lived in France since 1982, most of his films have been set in and made in Chad. Mahamat-Saleh Haroun was Minister of Tourism, Culture and Crafts of Chad from February 5, 2017, to February 8, 2018.

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Maral tanié (1994)

Directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST:  Hadje Falmata Abakar  •  Moussa Atim  •  Achta Poret  •  N'Guérébaye Adoum Saleh

Directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST:  Hadje Falmata Abakar  •  Moussa Atim  •  Achta Poret  •  N'Guérébaye Adoum Saleh

A Screaming Man (2010)

Adam Ousmane is a pool attendant at a local resort. When the new managers decide to downsize, Adam loses his job to his own son, Abdel. Shattered by the turn of events, Adam is pressured into contributing to the Chadian war effort. With no money to speak of, the ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST:  Youssouf Djaoro  •  Diouc Koma  •  Emile Abossolo M'bo  •  Hadje Fatime N'Goua

Adam Ousmane is a pool attendant at a local resort. When the new managers decide to downsize, Adam loses his job to his own son, Abdel. Shattered by the turn of events, Adam is pressured into contributing to the Chadian war effort. With no money to speak of, the ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST:  Youssouf Djaoro  •  Diouc Koma  •  Emile Abossolo M'bo  •  Hadje Fatime N'Goua

Grigris (2013)

Souleymane, 25, dreams of being a dancer in spite of having a paralyzed leg. At nightclubs, he transforms into the beloved dancer Grigris, impressing people with his moves. However, when his stepfather falls seriously ill, Souleymane desperately needs money and ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST:  Souleymane Démé  •  Anaïs Monory  •  Cyril Gueï  •  Marius Yelolo

Souleymane, 25, dreams of being a dancer in spite of having a paralyzed leg. At nightclubs, he transforms into the beloved dancer Grigris, impressing people with his moves. However, when his stepfather falls seriously ill, Souleymane desperately needs money and ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST:  Souleymane Démé  •  Anaïs Monory  •  Cyril Gueï  •  Marius Yelolo

Sex, Okra & Salted Butter (2008)

An extramarital affair leads to Hortense’s separation from her very traditional African husband, who is in for a ride as he learns about her love affair, his eldest son’s secret love life, and the responsibilities of single parenthood.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST:  Marius Yelolo  •  Mata Gabin  •  Aïssa Maïga  •  Diouc Koma

An extramarital affair leads to Hortense’s separation from her very traditional African husband, who is in for a ride as he learns about her love affair, his eldest son’s secret love life, and the responsibilities of single parenthood.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST:  Marius Yelolo  •  Mata Gabin  •  Aïssa Maïga  •  Diouc Koma

Expectations (2008)

Moussa attempts to cross the desert to escape his debts, only to return to his village defeated and dejected.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST:  Youssouf Djaoro  •  Mata Gabin

Moussa attempts to cross the desert to escape his debts, only to return to his village defeated and dejected.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST:  Youssouf Djaoro  •  Mata Gabin

Bye Bye Africa (1999)

A Chadian film director who lives and works in France (Haroun) returns home upon the death of his mother. He is shocked at the degraded state of the country and the national cinema. The filmmaker decides to make a film dedicated to his mother.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun  •  Garba Issa  •  Aïcha Yelena  •  Abakar Mahamat-Saleh

A Chadian film director who lives and works in France (Haroun) returns home upon the death of his mother. He is shocked at the degraded state of the country and the national cinema. The filmmaker decides to make a film dedicated to his mother.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun  •  Garba Issa  •  Aïcha Yelena  •  Abakar Mahamat-Saleh

Hissein Habré, A Chadian Tragedy (2016)

In 2013, former Chadian dictator Hissein Habré’s arrest in Senegal marked the end of a long combat for the survivors of his regime. Accompanied by the Chairman of the Association of the Victims of the Hissein Habré Regime, Mahamat Saleh Haroun goes to meet those ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST:  Hissène Habré  •  Clement Abaifouta  •  Djanasbaye Elisee  •  Seringue Richard

In 2013, former Chadian dictator Hissein Habré’s arrest in Senegal marked the end of a long combat for the survivors of his regime. Accompanied by the Chairman of the Association of the Victims of the Hissein Habré Regime, Mahamat Saleh Haroun goes to meet those ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST:  Hissène Habré  •  Clement Abaifouta  •  Djanasbaye Elisee  •  Seringue Richard

Abouna (2002)

Two boys (Tamir & Amine) awake one morning to find that their father has abandoned their family. Shocked, they begin to misbehave. While surreptitiously watching a movie, they think they see their father speaking to them and steal the film to examine the frames. ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST:  Ahidjo Mahamat Moussa  •  Hamza Moctar Aguid  •  Zara Haroun  •  Hassan Boulama

Two boys (Tamir & Amine) awake one morning to find that their father has abandoned their family. Shocked, they begin to misbehave. While surreptitiously watching a movie, they think they see their father speaking to them and steal the film to examine the frames. ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST:  Ahidjo Mahamat Moussa  •  Hamza Moctar Aguid  •  Zara Haroun  •  Hassan Boulama

A Season in France (2018)

An African high school teacher flees his war-torn country for France, where he falls in love with a Frenchwoman who offers a roof for him and his family.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST:  Ériq Ebouaney  •  Sandrine Bonnaire  •  Aalayna Lys  •  Ibrahim Burama Darboe

An African high school teacher flees his war-torn country for France, where he falls in love with a Frenchwoman who offers a roof for him and his family.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST:  Ériq Ebouaney  •  Sandrine Bonnaire  •  Aalayna Lys  •  Ibrahim Burama Darboe

Goï-Goï (1995)

A dissolute man whose wife cheats on him seeks revenge to preserve his honor.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST:  Adamou Mahamat  •  Fatima Adoum  •  Halimata Koundja  •  Oumar Ouadoua

A dissolute man whose wife cheats on him seeks revenge to preserve his honor.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST:  Adamou Mahamat  •  Fatima Adoum  •  Halimata Koundja  •  Oumar Ouadoua

Scenarios from Africa: The Tree and the Wind (2004)

Tradition and AIDS in Africa. What to do when the respect of tradition is at odds with the community's health?  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST: 

Tradition and AIDS in Africa. What to do when the respect of tradition is at odds with the community's health?  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST: 

Dry Season (2006)

Chad, 2006. After a forty-year civil war, the radio announces the government has just amnestied the war criminals. Outraged by the news, Gumar Abatcha orders his grandson Atim, a sixteen-year-old youth, to trace the man who killed his father and to execute him. ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST:  Ali Barkai  •  Youssouf Djaoro  •  Aziza Hisseine  •  Aziza Hisseine

Chad, 2006. After a forty-year civil war, the radio announces the government has just amnestied the war criminals. Outraged by the news, Gumar Abatcha orders his grandson Atim, a sixteen-year-old youth, to trace the man who killed his father and to execute him. ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST:  Ali Barkai  •  Youssouf Djaoro  •  Aziza Hisseine  •  Aziza Hisseine

B 400 (1997)

A girl is locked out of her apartment building as a result of a prank. Can she get back in without disobeying any of her mother's warnings?  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST:  Naïma Haroun

A girl is locked out of her apartment building as a result of a prank. Can she get back in without disobeying any of her mother's warnings?  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST:  Naïma Haroun

Kalala (2006)

Mahamat-Saleh Haroun lost his close friend and collaborator Hissein Djibrine (nicknamed 'Kalala' after the Congolese footballer) to Aids in 2003. he returned to Chad to make this personal, cathartic documentary as an expression of his grief to unravel the facts ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST: 

Mahamat-Saleh Haroun lost his close friend and collaborator Hissein Djibrine (nicknamed 'Kalala' after the Congolese footballer) to Aids in 2003. he returned to Chad to make this personal, cathartic documentary as an expression of his grief to unravel the facts ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST: 

Lac

Kellou, in her forties, lives in Bol, the capital of Sahel’s province. She’s a fisher, profession transmitted from mother to daughter. She learned it from her mother. But since a few years, Lake Tchad has been shrinking, and fish has become rare. Kellou’s job is ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST: 

Kellou, in her forties, lives in Bol, the capital of Sahel’s province. She’s a fisher, profession transmitted from mother to daughter. She learned it from her mother. But since a few years, Lake Tchad has been shrinking, and fish has become rare. Kellou’s job is ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST: 

Interdependence Film 2019 (2019)

Started in 2018, the project – comprised of 11 segments by filmmakers from all around the world – reflects on the intertwined relationship between human society and nature that is aggravated by climate change on multiple scales, hinting at possible solutions.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Shahrbanoo Sadat  •  Bettina Oberli  •  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun  •  Salomé Lamas  •  Silvio Soldini  •  Nila Madhab Panda  •  Ása Hjörleifsdóttir  •  Faouzi Bensaïdi  •  Daniela Thomas  •  Leon Wang  •  Karin Williams
CAST:  Claudio Abbiati  •  Thor Kristjansson  •  Gabriele Gorgoglione  •  Hera Hilmar

Started in 2018, the project – comprised of 11 segments by filmmakers from all around the world – reflects on the intertwined relationship between human society and nature that is aggravated by climate change on multiple scales, hinting at possible solutions.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Shahrbanoo Sadat  •  Bettina Oberli  •  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun  •  Salomé Lamas  •  Silvio Soldini  •  Nila Madhab Panda  •  Ása Hjörleifsdóttir  •  Faouzi Bensaïdi  •  Daniela Thomas  •  Leon Wang  •  Karin Williams
CAST:  Claudio Abbiati  •  Thor Kristjansson  •  Gabriele Gorgoglione  •  Hera Hilmar

Lingui: The Sacred Bonds (2021)

On the outskirts of the capital of Chad, determined single mother Amina works tirelessly to provide for herself and her 15-year old daughter Maria. When Amina discovers Maria is pregnant and does not want a child, the two women begin to seek out an abortion, ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST:  Achouackh Abakar Souleymane  •  Rihane Khalil Alio  •  Youssouf Djaoro  •  Briya Gomdigue

On the outskirts of the capital of Chad, determined single mother Amina works tirelessly to provide for herself and her 15-year old daughter Maria. When Amina discovers Maria is pregnant and does not want a child, the two women begin to seek out an abortion, ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST:  Achouackh Abakar Souleymane  •  Rihane Khalil Alio  •  Youssouf Djaoro  •  Briya Gomdigue

Sotigui Kouyaté, a modern griot (1996)

Through testimonies by Peter Brook, Jean-Claude Carriere, Jean-Pierre Guigane, and Sotigui Kouyate himself, SOTIGUI KOUYATE: A MODERN GRIOT dresses the portrait of one of Africa's greatest actor now based in Paris. From Africa to Europe, the film unveils the ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST:  Sotigui Kouyaté

Through testimonies by Peter Brook, Jean-Claude Carriere, Jean-Pierre Guigane, and Sotigui Kouyate himself, SOTIGUI KOUYATE: A MODERN GRIOT dresses the portrait of one of Africa's greatest actor now based in Paris. From Africa to Europe, the film unveils the ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
CAST:  Sotigui Kouyaté

Bord' Africa (1995)

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DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
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DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
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Un thé au sahel (1998)

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DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
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DIRECTION:  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
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