Official selection
Venice Film Festival 2018, Fantastic Fest 2018, Göteborg Film Festival 2019, Imagine Film Festival 2019
Writer
Abdelhamid Bouchnak
Cast
Yasmine Dimassi, Aziz Jbali, Bilel Slatnia, Hela Ayed, Hedi Majri, Bahri Rahali
Cinematographer
Hatem Nechi
Sound Designer
Aimen Toumi
Composer
Rached Hmaoui, Samy Ben Said
Editor
Abdelhamid Bouchnak
Decors
Fatma Madani
Costume
Bassma Dhaouadi
Twenty-five years ago, a woman was found on a deserted road in the middle of nowhere, her throat slit yet very much alive. To this day, she has been imprisoned in a government-run asylum, under suspicion of having practiced black magic, largely forgotten as the world moved on. A group of journalism students choose to make the mysterious woman the subject of their university assignment, travelling far from home to attempt an interview with her. Deep on their journey, they find themselves at an isolated compound where a hidden tribal society has cultivated a way of life unseen by most. One brimming with ancient practices and beliefs, rituals and blood.
Tearing out of North Africa, DACHRA is a nerve-shredding bear trap of horror cinema, unfolding a tapestry of witchcraft and cannibalism like a roadmap to your inner child’s most paralyzing nightmares. Thick with otherworldly atmosphere, Tunisia’s first genre film is one hell of a statement of intent, reinventing tropes and assaulting its audience with one genuinely terrifying set piece after another. First-time writer/director Abdelhamid Bouchnak has made a film that taps into primitive fears and uses that energy as storytelling rocket fuel while tackling themes of generational conflict and the struggle within a country that wants at once to embrace change and innovation, while holding on to traditional beliefs. His creation has been chilling audiences around the world since its acclaimed debut last September, where it closed Venice’s Critics’ Week with waves of horror. We’re thrilled to finally bring the nightmare that is DACHRA to Canada. We hope your skin’s in particularly flexible shape because it will be crawling for blocks. – Mitch Davis
Showings
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