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Soumsoum, la nuit des astres

Soumsoum, the Night of the Stars
Competition 2026
© Pili Films
Seventeen-year-old Kellou has been granted supernatural powers she cannot understand. Troubled and hesitant about how to manage such an unsettling gift, she is filled with uncertainty until the day her path crosses that of Aya, a woman in her forties. It is an encounter that will intertwine their individual destinies. Aya already knows that Kellou possesses a power. She also knows that Kellou’s mother died in childbirth: Aya was there to assist with the birth and thus heard the dying woman’s final words. As her own time draws to a close, Aya – who fears the disappearance of the mystical, pantheistic world she and Kellou share, where the visible and invisible converge – entrusts the younger woman with keeping this world alive.
by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (Director, Screenplay), Laurent Gaudé (Screenplay)
with Maïmouna Miawama, Ériq Ebouaney, Achouackh Abakar Souleymane France / Chad 2026 French, Chadian Arabic 101' Colour World premiere

With

  • Maïmouna Miawama (Kellou)
  • Ériq Ebouaney (Garba)
  • Achouackh Abakar Souleymane (Aya)

Crew

Director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
Screenplay Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Laurent Gaudé
Cinematography Mathieu Giombini
Editing Svetlana Vaynblat
Music Bibi Tanga
Sound Design Yolande Decarsin
Costumes Agnès Noden
Make-Up Léonelle Mix Tchoudja
Producer Florence Stern
Co-Producer Mahamat-Saleh Haroun

Produced by

Pili Films

Paris, France

Co-produced by

Goï-Goï Productions

N'djaména, Chad

World Sales

Films Boutique

Berlin, Germany

Photos

Press Conference

Red Carpet

Mahamat-Saleh Haroun

© Pili Films

Born in Chad, he directed his debut feature film in 1999, Bye Bye Africa, which had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival. He went on to direct a string of award-winning features including Daratt, which won the Special Jury Prize at Venice, and Un homme qui crie, which won awards including the Jury Prize at Cannes. His first feature-length documentary, Hissein Habré, une tragédie tchadienne, premiered at Cannes and Une saison en France at Toronto. Lingui: les liens sacrés was recognised as one of the 10 Best Foreign Films of 2022 by the National Board of Review in the USA.

Filmography

1999 Bye Bye Africa 2002 Abouna (Our Father) 2006 Daratt (Dry Season) 2010 Un homme qui crie (A Screaming Man) 2013 Grigris 2016 Hissein Habré, une tragédie tchadienne (Hissein Habré, a Chadian Tragedy); documentary 2017 Une saison en France (A Season in France) 2021 Lingui: les liens sacrés (Lingui, The Sacred Bonds) 2026 Soumsoum, la nuit des astres (Soumsoum, The Night of The Stars)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2026