Search - Abouna on DVD

Abandonment and search!

Rizzo | Denver, CO | 10/05/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"
This is a quite film with beautiful landscape and about people and a culture we don't know much about and filmed in Africa, the city of N'Djamena. Moreso than the theme of abandonment is the director Mahamat Saleh Haroun's importance to bring these images to the screen as he has said, "Otherwise we have a colonization by images." According to the interview extra in the DVD, it was very difficult, with no electricity at times, no official actors in the area, and sending the footage 2600 miles to Paris for processing and then to determine if it was ok to continue.



This is a story of two young boys Amine, 8, and his brother Tahir, 15, who suddenly discover that their father is not at home to coach a game. With no help from their mother, a bitter woman who speaks ill of him, they embark on a journey to understand why he left and to find him.



We don't find out what occurred in the marriage that he felt compelled to leave, but you get the sense it is not unusual in their society to be fatherless since it has endured years of civil war.



During that journey, they find out that their father hasn't worked for two years at the place they believed him to go each day. They soon recognize him in a movie at the theatre and they plan to steal the film from the projector room. Then, they get in trouble, are sent away by their mother, and asthmatic Amine becomes ill.



This is the director's second film, the language also includes French. (2002). There are two short films included which are quite ....interesting???......MzRizz



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Abouna

Rizzo | 08/28/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I enjoyed this film a great deal. The setting is Chad, I believe. Some place in Africa where they apparently speak a mixture of Arabic and French. The title translates as "Our Father." It's about two boys whose father goes away quite early in the film. They have a mother, but she's mostly a background figure. Quite memorable, though.



2002, subtitles but you don't care because dialogue is minimal. Gorgeous scenery, wonderful colors, not big budget but neither is it one of those shoestring jobs I've been reviewing a lot lately. Great, great story. Fantastic acting, wonderful characters, moving without being overdone, a bit of clever wit, and just an all-around damn fine movie.

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Africa of the Heart Shown in "Our Father"

Janet Riehl | St. Louis, MO | 07/06/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Abouna" (translated "Our Father") is, quite simply, an elegant movie in the same way Africa is elegant. Director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun hews to the essentials of visual story-telling to give us a deep sense of the lives of these two boys, 8 and 15, and the place in which they live. The film is in Chad Arabic with English subtitles.



The DVD also features an interview with director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun and two of his film Shorts--"Goi Goi", and "B 400." Phil Hall who writes for "Film Threat" and "Wired Magazine" provides liner notes. He remarks that "Abouna is a perfect film" and explains why. You wouldn't be cheated if you bought the DVD just for these extras.



In his interview (in French with English subtitles) Director Haroun (known for his international award-winning "Bye-Bye Africa") says that he seeks to keep Africa at the center of things, not at the side-lines. May he continue in this effort of bringing the humanity of Africa to the eyes of the developed world. Not exotic Africa. Not troubled, bleeding Africa. Just Africa of the heart. Just our hearts, beating together, across cultures and worlds.



--Janet Grace Riehl, author Sightlines: A Poet's Diary"