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MOVIES / ON DVD / ABOUNA
Abouna

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Abouna (2004)

92%
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92 %
Reviews Counted: 13 Fresh: 12  Rotten:1 Average Rating: 7/10
Runtime: 84 mins
Synopsis:
This sorrowful story begins when Tahir (Ahidjo Mahamat Moussa) and his little brother Amine (Hamza Moctar Aguid) learn that their father has abandoned them, and they embark on a desperate quest to bring him home. Roaming their city in central African Chad, they check with relatives, look in... [More]
This sorrowful story begins when Tahir (Ahidjo Mahamat Moussa) and his little brother Amine (Hamza Moctar Aguid) learn that their father has abandoned them, and they embark on a desperate quest to bring him home. Roaming their city in central African Chad, they check with relatives, look in local shops, and wander the border bridge between Chad and Cameroon. They even believe they see him in a film at a local cinema, and later steal the film reel to confirm their suspicions. Left on her own and with Amine suffering asthma attacks because of the stress, their single-mindedness wears on their mother, Achta (Zara Haroun). Breaking under her burden, she sends the boys to a remote Koran school, a dusty, harsh place filled with aggressive boys and an unforgiving teacher. Despite Tahir falling in love with a local girl, the boys fail to thrive in this bleak environment. Soon, the family becomes forever marred by a tragedy even more shocking than that which initially split them apart. The starkly beautiful Chadian landscape reflects the desolation the boys feel as the family slowly deteriorates. And the pacing of the story is incredibly slow, underscoring the way the boys refuse to accept that their father abandoned them. Director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, whose BYE BYE AFRICA was the first feature film ever produced in Chad, creates a sensitive portrait of a family in crisis with ABOUNA, transcending national and cultural borders to touch the heart of every father-son bond. [Less]

Genre: Foreign Films

Starring: Ahidjo Mahamat Moussa, Hamza Moctar Aguid, Mounira Khalil, Zara Haroun, Koulsy Lamko

Director: Mahamet Saleh Haroun
Screenwriter: Mahamet Saleh Haroun
Producer: Guillaume De Seille

DVD Info

Release:

May 5, 2006

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital Stereo Surround - Chad Arabic

Additional Release Material:

  • Interview - 1. Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
  • Featurettes - 1. GOI GOI
  • 2. B 400
  • Trailer - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer

Text/Photo Galleries:

  • Liner Notes By Film Critic Phil Hall

Reviews

 
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1 - 19 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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06/24/06 03:42 AM
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
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03/16/04 05:25 PM
Empire Magazine
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N/R

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05/24/03 08:16 AM
Channel 4 Film
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Pleasant enough viewing ... but somewhat calculated, polished and ersatz.

Full Review | Comment
03/24/03 03:13 PM
Keith H. Brown
iofilm.co.uk
N/R

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Full Review | Comment
12/11/02 08:37 AM
Guardian [UK]
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N/R

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12/11/02 08:37 AM
FilmFour.com
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The film never feels derivative or inauthentic.

Full Review | Comment
12/11/02 08:37 AM
Sight and Sound
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Moving, yet unmemorable, cinema.

Full Review | Comment
12/11/02 08:37 AM
Jamie Russell
BBC
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N/R

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Full Review | Comment
12/11/02 08:37 AM
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
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Gorgeously photographed, thematically complex and nothing if not ambitious, but strangely lacking in emotional punch.

Full Review | Comment
03/29/06 12:44 PM
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
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With its use of nonprofessional actors and actual locations, this is neorealism via Chad. However, Abouna is more moving to describe than it is to watch.

Full Review | Comment
04/09/04 02:50 PM
Kent Turner
Film-Forward.com
N/R

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Full Review | Comment
03/11/04 05:00 PM
Stanley Kauffmann
New Republic
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While it doesn't tell a story that satisfies most Western eyes, in some ways that's part of the strength of Abouna.

Full Review | Comment
02/26/04 04:18 PM
Stephen Whitty
Newark Star-Ledger
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Even considering how hard it must be to take a bad picture with the striking Chadian landscape as a backdrop, this film is an exceptionally beautiful work.

Full Review | Comment
02/20/04 04:57 PM
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide
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Suffers from largely rudderless direction, relying for any sense of profundity on the breathtaking beauty of Abraham Haile Biru's cinematography.

Full Review | Comment
02/20/04 04:56 PM
Megan Lehmann
New York Post
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Lyrical and stoic.

Full Review | Comment
02/18/04 05:18 PM
Michael Atkinson
Village Voice
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It is a splendid achievement for the nascent African film industry. And it is also a fascinating film, notable for its empathetic heart as well as its political guts.

Full Review | Comment
02/17/04 05:18 PM
Shirley Sealy
Film Journal International
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A perfect film.

Full Review | Comment
02/16/04 03:20 PM
Phil Hall
Film Threat
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Mahamat-Selah Haroun's second feature film reveals both the beauties and the harsh realities of modern African life.

Full Review | Comment
04/05/03 01:02 PM
A.O. Scott
New York Times
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Related Forums

REEL_REVIEWER
ABOUNA - Long slow first half makes this one a tough sell?
by: REEL_REVIEWER 5/12/05


REEL_REVIEWER
ABOUNA - Long slow first half makes this one a tough sell?
by: REEL_REVIEWER 5/12/05


REEL_REVIEWER
ABOUNA - Long slow first half makes this one a tough sell?
by: REEL_REVIEWER 5/12/05


REEL_REVIEWER
ABOUNA - Long slow first half makes this one a tough sell?
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