Judges at the 63RD Cannes Film Festival selected a film by Chadian director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun for the festival’s coveted Jury Prize.
 
It was the first film from sub-Saharan Africa in 13 years to be chosen for the festival's main honors.
 Haroun said the award represented a chance to bring Africa back into the international cinema scene. "I come from a country where little exists. In this desert-like context I learnt one thing: you have to make films the way you'd prepare dishes for the people you love," he said.
 
"You have to be a dreamer to continue to make films in countries where cinemas are closing down and where there is no local finance for film."
 
A Screaming Man tells the story of an ex-swimming champion who is forced to hand over his job as a hotel pool attendant to his son.
 
An earlier Haroun film: Sex, Okra and Salted Butter - a “delightful satire that through its comedy of errors reveals insights into the African immigrant experience”- will be screened May 29 in New York at the Brooklyn Academy of Music during the annual Memorial Weekend DanceAfrica festivity. The film, at BAMcinematek will have two shows: at 6:50 p.m. and 9:15 p.m.

---
GIN