Screening and Discussion with
Director Ali Cherri
5 pm to 7:30 pm
Thursday, April 13th
Lawrence Hall 115
Free and open to the community
THE DAM | 2022 | 84 Minutes
Directed by Ali Cherri
Sudan, near the Merowe dam. Maher works in a traditional brickyard fed by the waters of the Nile. Every evening, he secretly wanders off into the desert to build a mysterious construction made of mud. While the Sudanese people rise to claim their freedom, his creation starts to take a life of its own…
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Ali Cherri (b. Beirut, Lebanon) is a filmmaker and visual artist based in Paris. He received a Bachelor of Graphic Design at the American University of Beirut and a Master of Performing Arts from DasArts – Academy of Theatre and Dance, Amsterdam. Cherri is the recipient of Harvard University’s Robert E. Fulton Fellowship (2016). His work has featured in prominent exhibitions including If you prick us do we not bleed? at The National Gallery, London, The Milk of Dreams The 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale Venice, Minds Rising, Spirits Tuning, 13th Gwangju Biennale, South Korea (2020); The Gatekeepers at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Marseille – Manifesta 13, France (2020); Comme un parfum d’aventure at the Musée d’art Contemporain de Lyon, France (2020); Phantom Limb at Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai, UAE (2019); But a Storm is Blowing from Paradise at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, and at Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Milan (2018); Statues Also Die at Museo Egizio, Milan (2018); and Somniculus at Jeu de Paume, Paris and CAPC Musée d’Art Contemporain, Bordeaux (2017).
His films have been shown in International Film Festivals including New Directors/New Films MoMA NY; Cinéma du Réel, Centre Pompidou; CPH:DOX (winner of NewVision Award); Dubai International Film Festival (winner Best Director); VideoBrasil (Southern Panorama Award); Berlinale; Toronto International Film Festival & San Francisco International Film Festival amongst other.
Ali Cherri is the current artist in Residence at The National Gallery in London
This screening is made possible by the generous support of the Rutherford Middle East Initiative in partnership with the
African Studies Program, Department of Cinema Studies, Department of Comparative Literature, and Middle East and North Africa Minor.