DAMMI

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.