Demba

Mamadou Dia’s second feature focuses on a lonely widower who is struggling to deal with the loss of his wife Awa. After 30 years spent working at the town hall, he is given early retirement and suffers a mental crisis. While his restless adult son Bajjo doesn’t really know what to do with his difficult father, the deceased Awa haunts the house that Demba shares with his son – even if she’s initially only visible to the increasingly despairing father. Will Demba succeed in getting over his grief without losing himself? Mamadou Dia’s hugely personal film about mental health, social change and cohesion, grief and loss is also a portrait of the small town of Matam on the banks of the Senegal river where the director is from. DEMBA celebrated its international premiere in the Encounters section of this year’s Berlinale. (fw)