Mahamat-Saleh Haroun

Directing

Mahamat-Saleh Haroun

Born 1961-01-01 · Abéché, Chad

Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (French pronunciation: ​[ma.ama sale aʁun]; Arabic: محمد الصالح هارون; born 1961; Abéché). is a Chadian filmmaker. Loaded with complex moral and political themes, Haroun’s films confront questions of individual, familial, and national responsibility with unerring compassion and profound personal insight. He left Chad during the civil wars of the 1980s. Haroun is the first Chadian full-length film director. He both writes and directs his films. Though he has lived in France since 1982, most of his films have been set in and made in Chad. Mahamat-Saleh Haroun was Minister of Tourism, Culture and Crafts of Chad from February 5, 2017, to February 8, 2018.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

Goï-Goï poster
1.0

A dissolute man whose wife cheats on him seeks revenge to preserve his honor.

Goï-Goï

1995

Goï-Goï poster
1.0

A dissolute man whose wife cheats on him seeks revenge to preserve his honor.

Goï-Goï

1995

Maral tanié poster
NR

Directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun.

Maral tanié

1994

Maral tanié poster
NR

Directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun.

Maral tanié

1994

Soumsoum, the Night of the Stars poster
6.3

Seventeen-year-old Kellou has been gifted with supernatural powers she does not understand. Her disquiet and uncertainty only change when she meets Aya. It is an encounter with destiny that forges a mystical world where the visible and invisible converge.

Soumsoum, the Night of the Stars

2026

Soumsoum, the Night of the Stars poster
6.3

Seventeen-year-old Kellou has been gifted with supernatural powers she does not understand. Her disquiet and uncertainty only change when she meets Aya. It is an encounter with destiny that forges a mystical world where the visible and invisible converge.

Soumsoum, the Night of the Stars

2026

Lingui, the Sacred Bonds poster
6.6

On the outskirts of the capital of Chad, determined single mother Amina works tirelessly to provide for herself and her 15-year old daughter Maria. When Amina discovers Maria is pregnant and does not want a child, the two women begin to seek out an abortion, condemned by both religion and law. In the process, mother and daughter forge a connection stronger than any they’ve ever known.

Lingui, the Sacred Bonds

2021

Lingui, the Sacred Bonds poster
6.6

On the outskirts of the capital of Chad, determined single mother Amina works tirelessly to provide for herself and her 15-year old daughter Maria. When Amina discovers Maria is pregnant and does not want a child, the two women begin to seek out an abortion, condemned by both religion and law. In the process, mother and daughter forge a connection stronger than any they’ve ever known.

Lingui, the Sacred Bonds

2021

Grigris poster
5.9

Souleymane, 25, dreams of being a dancer in spite of having a paralyzed leg. At nightclubs, he transforms into the beloved dancer Grigris, impressing people with his moves. However, when his stepfather falls seriously ill, Souleymane desperately needs money and decides to work for petrol smugglers.

Grigris

2013

Grigris poster
5.9

Souleymane, 25, dreams of being a dancer in spite of having a paralyzed leg. At nightclubs, he transforms into the beloved dancer Grigris, impressing people with his moves. However, when his stepfather falls seriously ill, Souleymane desperately needs money and decides to work for petrol smugglers.

Grigris

2013

Hissein Habré, A Chadian Tragedy poster
6.1

In 2013, former Chadian dictator Hissein Habré’s arrest in Senegal marked the end of a long combat for the survivors of his regime. Accompanied by the Chairman of the Association of the Victims of the Hissein Habré Regime, Mahamat Saleh Haroun goes to meet those who survived this tragedy and who still bear the scars of the horror in their flesh and in their souls. Through their courage and determination, the victims accomplish an unprecedented feat in the history of Africa: that of bringing a Head of State to trial.

Hissein Habré, A Chadian Tragedy

2016

Dry Season poster
6.8

Chad, 2006. After a forty-year civil war, the radio announces the government has just amnestied the war criminals. Outraged by the news, Gumar Abatcha orders his grandson Atim, a sixteen-year-old youth, to trace the man who killed his father and to execute him. Atim obeys him and, armed with his father's own gun, he goes in search of Nassara, the man who made him an orphan. It does not take long before he finds him. Nassara, who now goes straight, is married, goes to the mosque and owns a small bakery. After some hesitation Atim offers him his services as an apprentice. He is hired then it will be easy for him to gun down the murderer of his father. At least, that is what he thinks...

Dry Season

2006

Dry Season poster
6.8

Chad, 2006. After a forty-year civil war, the radio announces the government has just amnestied the war criminals. Outraged by the news, Gumar Abatcha orders his grandson Atim, a sixteen-year-old youth, to trace the man who killed his father and to execute him. Atim obeys him and, armed with his father's own gun, he goes in search of Nassara, the man who made him an orphan. It does not take long before he finds him. Nassara, who now goes straight, is married, goes to the mosque and owns a small bakery. After some hesitation Atim offers him his services as an apprentice. He is hired then it will be easy for him to gun down the murderer of his father. At least, that is what he thinks...

Dry Season

2006

Dry Season poster
6.8

Chad, 2006. After a forty-year civil war, the radio announces the government has just amnestied the war criminals. Outraged by the news, Gumar Abatcha orders his grandson Atim, a sixteen-year-old youth, to trace the man who killed his father and to execute him. Atim obeys him and, armed with his father's own gun, he goes in search of Nassara, the man who made him an orphan. It does not take long before he finds him. Nassara, who now goes straight, is married, goes to the mosque and owns a small bakery. After some hesitation Atim offers him his services as an apprentice. He is hired then it will be easy for him to gun down the murderer of his father. At least, that is what he thinks...

Dry Season

2006

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Bord' Africa

1995

B 400 poster
8.0

A girl is locked out of her apartment building as a result of a prank. Can she get back in without disobeying any of her mother's warnings?

B 400

1997

B 400 poster
8.0

A girl is locked out of her apartment building as a result of a prank. Can she get back in without disobeying any of her mother's warnings?

B 400

1997

Our Father poster
6.1

Two boys (Tamir & Amine) awake one morning to find that their father has abandoned their family. Shocked, they begin to misbehave. While surreptitiously watching a movie, they think they see their father speaking to them and steal the film to examine the frames. Their mother (Achta) eventually despairs and sends them to Koranic school. Unhappy, they plan their escape until the eldest boy falls in love with a deaf girl (Khalil).

Our Father

2002

Our Father poster
6.1

Two boys (Tamir & Amine) awake one morning to find that their father has abandoned their family. Shocked, they begin to misbehave. While surreptitiously watching a movie, they think they see their father speaking to them and steal the film to examine the frames. Their mother (Achta) eventually despairs and sends them to Koranic school. Unhappy, they plan their escape until the eldest boy falls in love with a deaf girl (Khalil).

Our Father

2002

Kalala poster
NR

Mahamat-Saleh Haroun lost his close friend and collaborator Hissein Djibrine (nicknamed 'Kalala' after the Congolese footballer) to Aids in 2003. he returned to Chad to make this personal, cathartic documentary as an expression of his grief to unravel the facts about Kalala's death and to honour his memory.

Kalala

2006

Bye Bye Africa poster
5.8

A Chadian film director who lives and works in France returns home upon the death of his mother. He is shocked at the degraded state of the country and the national cinema. The filmmaker decides to make a film dedicated to his mother.

Bye Bye Africa

2003

Bye Bye Africa poster
5.8

A Chadian film director who lives and works in France returns home upon the death of his mother. He is shocked at the degraded state of the country and the national cinema. The filmmaker decides to make a film dedicated to his mother.

Bye Bye Africa

2003

Expectations poster
4.7

Moussa attempts to cross the desert to escape his debts, only to return to his village defeated and dejected.

Expectations

2008

A Screaming Man poster
6.1

Adam Ousmane is a pool attendant at a local resort. When the new managers decide to downsize, Adam loses his job to his own son, Abdel. Shattered by the turn of events, Adam is pressured into contributing to the Chadian war effort. With no money to speak of, the only asset he can donate is his son.

A Screaming Man

2010