Haroun Mahamat-Salem is the first filmmaker in Chad's history to present a feature film in the Cannes' official competition. Born in 1961, Abéché, Chad, the 50-year-old man who studied cinema and journalism in France has lived in France since 1982. Student at the Conservatoire Libre du Cinéma Français, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun then turned to journalism and joined the IUT of Bordeaux in 1986.
A journalist for the regional press and for a local radio, he released his first short film, "Maral Tanie", which won a prize at the Vues d'Afrique Festival in 1994. He made his first feature film, Bye Bye Africa, in 1999. In 2001, he directed Letter from New York City, a short film that won a prize for best video at the 11th African Film Festival in Milan.
He has already been to Cannes to the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs back in 2002 with his second feature film Abouna which also won the Best Cinematography Award at FESPACO. But it is with his third film, Daratt, saison sèche (Daratt, dry season) which won him the Grand Special Jury Prize at the 63rd Venice International Film Festival in 2006 that saw him make a name for himself on the international scene.
Un homme qui crie is his fourth feature film. As with his previous film, today's Chad, plagued by incessant civil war since its independence in the early sixties serves as backdrop for the drama. The title is a quote from the poetry collection Return to My Native Land by Aimé Césaire.
In this new film, viewrs follow sexagenarian Adam, former swimming champion who has to place his son Abdel as a lifeguard in a N'Dajamena palace freshly bought by Chinese people. Unfortunately Abdel is harassed by the government to participate in the "war effort". Without the financial help of his son, Adam sees the near future darkening. The film's title is based on a quotation from the writer Aime Cesaire: "A man who cries is not a dancing bear."
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