{"id":30828,"date":"2026-05-22T10:32:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T07:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/?post_type=movies&p=30828"},"modified":"2026-05-22T18:21:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T15:21:10","slug":"soumsoum-the-night-of-the-stars","status":"publish","type":"movies","link":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/soumsoum-the-night-of-the-stars\/","title":{"rendered":"Soumsoum, the Night of the Stars"},"content":{"rendered":"

The films of Chadian director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, who made a memorable visit to the festival in 2018, have gained a wider reach in Europe than those of other African directors — which is why his works are well-known at the Midnight Sun Film Festival as well. <\/span>Soumsoum, the Night of the Stars<\/span><\/i> takes the director\u2019s humanistic approach into new dimensions with the story of a 17-year-old girl, Kellou, an outcast in her village community, who loses love but grows empowered by supernatural visions that even she herself cannot understand.<\/span><\/p>\n

Based on true events, yet legendary in tone, the story derives some of its mythical dimensions from its setting: the majestically beautiful Ennedi Plateau of northeastern Chad \u2013 the cradle of humanity, where our ancestors first emerged. Realism and timeless fairy-tale elements intertwine when an unsure Kellou crosses paths with another shunned woman, the 40-year-old Aya, who is regarded as a witch, and who knows the girl\u2019s background. In this poetic, sparsely dialogued film underscored by melancholic music, Kellou is branded an outcast. But in defending Aya, she stands in defiance of the oppressive, traditional force of the patriarchy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Viewers wary of mysticism will have to acclimatize themselves to African magical realism in this brilliantly directed feminist fable.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Working in Chad \u2013 between Niger and Sudan \u2013 MAHAMAT-SALEH HAROUN<\/b> (b. 1961) is the most awarded African director in the history of both the Cannes and Venice film festivals. As a young man, Haroun fled the country\u2019s civil war to Paris, where he received his film education, and later he would go on to reckon with his refugee past in A Season in France<\/i> (2017). In the 90\u2019s, Haroun returned to his country of origin to revitalize the country\u2019s film industry and directed the autobiographical docudrama Bye Bye Africa<\/i> (1999). Since then he has directed eight other feature films in Chad (such as Dry Season<\/i> (2006), and The Man Who Cries<\/i> (2010)), which, for all their allure, are deeply serious portrayals of the plight of the disadvantaged in African reality. Haroun, once the country\u2019s only film director, has also been entrusted with organizing film education in Chad.<\/span><\/p>\n

Timo Malmi<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The films of Chadian director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, who made a memorable visit to the festival in 2018, have gained a wider reach in Europe than those of other African directors — which is why his works are well-known at the Midnight Sun Film Festival as well. Soumsoum, the Night of the Stars takes the director\u2019s… View Article<\/a>","protected":false},"featured_media":30826,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-30828","movies","type-movies","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","filters-gems-of-new-cinema","filters-subtitles-in-english-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSoumsoum, the Night of the Stars — Midnight Sun Film Festival<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The films of Chadian director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, who made a memorable visit to the festival in 2018, have gained a wider reach in Europe than those of other African directors -- which is why his works are well-known at the Midnight Sun Film Festival as well. 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