(DAMMI دمي)
DAMMI
Drama | Running Time: 16 minutes
2023 / English and French
Country: France and United Kingdom
Directed by: Yann Mounir DemangeMENA Premiere
Born in Paris to French-Algerian parents and raised in London, Yann Mounir Demange established his reputation in the UK with the series Deadset and Top Boy, both BAFTA nominated, before moving to the United States, where his credits include White Boy Rick. His upcoming projects include the Marvel film Blade, starring Mahershala Ali, and an episodic reimagining of David Cronenberg’s Scanners for HBO.
ProducerAlexandre Mattiussi, Gary Farkas, Clément Lepoutre, Olivier Muller, Rosa Attab, Maëva Tenneroni
CastRiz Ahmed, Souheila Yacoub, Yousfi Henine, Isabelle Adjani, Sandor Funtek
ScriptwriterYann Mounir Demange, Rosa Attab
Returning from the United Kingdom to Paris, city of his birth, a man who used to be known as Mounir (Riz Ahmed) moves through memories of his past and surreal fragments of the present, searching for connection with his estranged father (Yousfi Henine) and a sense of his misplaced Arab identity. On his journey, he meets a French Algerian woman called Hafzia (Souheila Yacoub) whose own persona suggests to him a possible way of being. Together, they drift between recognisable corners of Paris and stage sets that remind us this is a discussion of ideas, while the narrative also moves between fictional realism and a dream where dancing troupes appear out of the fog. All these fractured moments fit together to form a fascinating picture of internal strife.