UN HOMME QUI CRIE (A SCREAMING MAN) (France/Chad/Belgium 2010) ***
Directed by Mahamat Saleh Haroun

Set in the background of a generation long civil war, A SCREAMING MAN is a drama that centres on a family and the effects the war has on the father as a result of personal decisions.

The father (Youssouf Djaoro) loses his esteemed position of the second pool attendant and demoted.  As the pool is all his life – he as a champion swimmer and the first pool attendant in Chad, he regains his position but has to send his son (Diouc Koma).  But dire consequences force him to re-evaluate his decision.

Things have not been going well for the father in his later years.  On the personal level, he is losing his swimming touch, as indicated at the film’s start in a test of strength with his son, as the two compete who can stay underwater for the longest time.  He still enjoys good times with his wife and family – and a good relationship (especially with his son), but his pride gets the better of him, especially in his work.  The unrestful background makes an impression on the man’s life.  Haroun’s quiet tale is a moving and important one concerning pride and what is most important to ones life.  The message is effectively delivered in his film by the last reel which fades to total darkness.  Haroun’s film is impressively shot.

The film’s title is a quotation from the poetry collection Return to My Native Land by Aime Cesaire.  The full sentence is “A screaming man is not a dancing bear”.  Haroun says that the main character Adam is “screaming against the silence of God, it’s not a scream against adversity”

The film which was screened at 2010 Cannes went away with the Jury Prize.