Daresalam
– In a small Central African village, boyhood friends Djimi and Koni have come of age under a post-col..
In a small Central African village, boyhood friends Djimi and Koni have come of age under a post-colonial government that levies crippling taxes and legally robs local farmers of their meager crops. When impulsive Koni savagely attacks a visiting government official, the resulting massacre forces the two friends on a journey that will transform them from boys into men, from farmers into soldiers and from villagers into revolutionaries. "We fight in one world so we can live in another," declares Koni as the two battle shoulder to shoulder against government troops. But while Koni embraces the politics and carnage of their dangerous new guerilla existence, Djimi longs for the simplicity and grace of the village life they've left behind. As the rebels move closer to victory, the two friends move closer to a clash of their own.
21 Apr 2001
French, Arabic
Issa Serge Coelo
Ismael Ben-Cherrif, Issa Serge Coelo, Pierre Guillaume
Haikal Zakaria, Abdoulaye Ahmat, Gérard Essomba, Sidiki Bakaba
Koni and Djimi, two childhood friends, flee their village after a tax collector's visit degenerates into a riot. They join the rebels in the bush, convinced that they can at last bring justice to their put-upon compatriots. In both the armed and ideological struggle, a gulf grows between the two friends. To bridge it, they must admit that the cure is often worse than the disease. Daresalam, the first Chadian feature film, is inspired by the story of Hissene Habre and Goukouni Weddeye, both past presidents of Chad.