Ask me before the festival started what I thought the chances of a film from Chad had in the comp - and I was probably the only one thinking this had a shot (for the record I predicted a Grand Prix win). So despite not having seen Mahamat-Saleh Haroun's A Screaming Man, I knew that a small-scale cinema with heart had perhaps a better chance than some of the more heavy weight titles.
Lingui
Chad’s most notable director, Mahamat Saleh-Haroun, is readying his eighth feature, Lingui, produced by Florence Stern, Diana Elbaum and Melanie Andernach. The French-German co-production...
A film from Chad and a film from the Ukraine are probably the only surprises out of the 16 films mentioned early this morning. Now a French resident, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun comes into the comp with A Screaming Man (Un homme qui Crie), he was at Venice a several years back with Daratt, which won the Grand Special Jury Prize. Sergey Loznitsa docu and fiction filmmaker has been on film per year pace for the past decade - he'll show up in the comp with You, My Joy.
Film Movement have made their first Cannes purchase - picking up the Jury Prize winning pic Mahamat-Saleh Haroun's A Screaming Man and are setting it up for a first quarter release next year - with what I imagine will be a generous showings in film festivals in North America.