The Dam

Original title: Al-Sadd
Genre: Political drama
Director: Ali Cherri
Country: Serbia, Germany, Sudan, France, Greece, Qatar, The Netherlands, Lebanon
Year of production: 2022
Czas: 80 min

Awards and nominations:
2022 Cairo International Film Festival: Best Actor
2022 Thessaloniki Film Festival: Best Artistic Achievement
2022 Tokyo FILMeX: Special Mention
2022 Cannes Film Festival: nominated for Golden Camera
 
Maher (a subtle yet very convincing performance from debuting Maher El Khair) works in a traditional Sudan brick factory at the bank of Nile. Every day he works hard to prepare material for construction of a dam which is one of the most important projects in the region. The factory is where a local community gathers to do business, meet friends, and complain about cruel fate. This is also where from time to time people express their discontent with the current government’s short-sighted and inefficient politics that has led to a tragic economic situation in the country. First, they whisper but their voices become louder over time. Director Ali Cherri places a story of an individual in a broader context thus intertwining his actions, both literally and metaphorically, with the whole country’s history and nascent revolution. This complicated and bloody geopolitics is the backdrop of the story of Maher who is one of many fighting their own war. He spends each evening building, very methodically, a mysterious construction of mud and debris that is a symbol of current events in the country. The nation’s battle for freedom has a concrete shape which by getting stronger constantly hardens the fighters.
 
Author: Magdalena Maksimiuk

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Ali Cherri – a visual artist born in Beirut, now living in Paris. Last year he participated in the programme of artistic residency in the National Gallery in London. “The Dam” is his feature debut. His short films won many awards at film festivals around the world.

2023-04-15

13:00

2023-04-21

16:30