Director of
Soumsoum, la nuit des astres
Born in Chad, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun directed his first feature BYE-BYE AFRICA (Best First Film, Venice Film Festival) in 1999.
He then went on to direct ABOUNA which premiered at Directors' Fortnight in 2002, DARATT (Special Jury Award, Venice Film Festival 2006), UN HOMME QUI CRIE (Jury Prize, Cannes Film Festival 2011), GRIGRIS (Vulcain Prize for Best Cinematography, Cannes Film Festival 2013). UNE TRAGÉDIE TCHADIENNE, his first documentary film, was selected at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, while A SEASON IN FRANCE, starring Ériq Ebouaney and Sandrine Bonnaire premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2017.
Haroun's latest film LINGUI (Cannes Film Festival 2021) was named among 10 Best Foreign Films of 2022 by the National Board of Review in the US.
The city of New York paid tribute to Mahamat-Saleh Haroun by hosting two retrospectives of his films: in 2006 at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and in 2018 at Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). In 2010, Haroun received Robert Bresson Award for his oeuvre at the Venice Film Festival and in 2013, the Fellini Medal was awarded by UNESCO.
Films (selection): BYE-BYE AFRICA (1999), ABOUNA (2002), DARATT (2006), UN HOMME QUI CRIE (2011), GRIGRIS (2013), HISSEIN HABRÉ, UNE TRAGÉDIE TCHADIENNE (2016), UNE SAISON EN FRANCE (2017), LINGUI (2021), SOUMSOUM – LA NUIT DES ASTRES (2026)