DEMBA
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After 30 years of service at the town hall in his small town in northern Senegal, DEMBA is forced to retire. Increasingly tormented as the second anniversary of his wife's death approaches, he is unable to come to terms with the loss. Those around him are worried by his worsening mental health. In this second feature-length drama, filmmaker Mamadou Dia paints an intimate portrait of a man slowly losing his footing, and raises the question of society's role in dealing with depression in a country where there is no word for this illness. The film had its world premiere at this year's Berlinale.
DEMBA Direction: Mamadou Dia, DCP, OmeU, 119 min
Guest
Mamadou Dia is a Senegalese director who graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts with a master's degree in directing/screenwriting. His first feature film BAAMUM NAFI (2019) was the Senegalese Oscar entry for 2021 and has won numerous awards, including the prize for Best First Feature and the Golden Leopard in Locarno. At the AFFK 2021, it received the Audience Award for Best Feature Film. Dia's short film SAMEDI CINEMA (2016) received dozens of awards. Dia is co-founder of the production company Joyedidi, which organizes mobile film screenings throughout Senegal. DEMBA, his new film, celebrated its world premiere at BERLINALE 2024.