Cinema of Chad


Cinema of Chad is small but growing. The first film made in the country was the 1958 John Huston adventure film The Roots of Heaven, filmed when the country was still a part of French Equatorial Africa. Documentary filmmaker Edouard Sailly made a series of shorts in the 1960s depicting daily life in the country. During this period there were a number of cinemas in the country, including Le Normandie, Le Vogue, the Rio, the Étoile and the Shéherazade in N'Djamena, the Rex in Sarh, the Logone in Moundou and the Ciné Chachati in Abéché. The film industry suffered severely in the 1970s-80s as Chad became engulfed in a series of civil wars and foreign military interventions; film production stopped, and all the cinemas in Chad closed down. Following the ousting of dictator Hissène Habré by Idriss Déby in 1990 the situation in the country stabilised somewhat, allowing the development of a nascent film industry, most notably through the work of directors Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Issa Serge Coelo and Abakar Chene Massar. Mahamat-Saleh Haroun has won awards at the Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou, Venice International Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival. In January 2011 Le Normandie in N'Djamena, said now to be the only cinema in Chad, re-opened with government support.

List of Films Shot in Chad

The following is a sortable list of films produced or shot in Chad.
YearTitleEnglish translationDirectorGenreNotes
1958The Roots of HeavenJohn HustonAdventureAmerican film partly shot in Chad
1960Les Tonnes de l'Audace - Mission Ténéré TchadThe Tons of Audacity - Mission Ténéré TchadRené Quinet and Louis SommetDocumentary
1966Pêcheurs du ChariFishers of the ChariEdouard SaillyEthnographic short
1966Le Lac TchadLake ChadEdouard SaillyEthnographic short
1966Salam el KebirEdouard SaillyEthnographic short
1966Les Abattoirs de ForchiaThe Abattoirs of ForchiaEdouard SaillyEthnographic short
1966LargeauEdouard SaillyEthnographic short
1967Le Troisième JourThe Third DayEdouard SaillyDramaShort
1969L'Enfant du TchadThe Infant of ChadEdouard SaillyEthnographic short
1972A la Découverte du TchadDiscovering ChadEdouard SaillyEthnographic short
1994Maral TaniéMahamat-Saleh HarounDramaShort
1994Un Taxi pour AouzouA Taxi for AouzouIssa Serge CoeloDramaShort
1995Goï-GoïMahamat-Saleh HarounDramaShort
1995Dilemme au FémininFemale DilemmaZara Mahamat YacoubDramaTV film
1999Bye Bye AfricaMahamat-Saleh HarounDrama
2000DaresalamLet There Be PeaceIssa Serge CoeloWar drama
2002AbounaOur FatherMahamat-Saleh HarounDrama
2005Addabache Djay WaraAbakar Chene MassarDrama
2006DarattDry SeasonMahamat-Saleh HarounDrama
2006DP75: Tartina CityIssa Serge CoeloDrama
2006KalalaMahamat Saleh HarounDocumentary
2009Le Pèlerin de Camp NouCaptain Majid Abakar Chene MassarDrama
2009La DeliveranceRichard HuntDocumentary
2010Un homme qui crieA Screaming ManMahamat-Saleh HarounDrama
2013GriGrisMahamat-Saleh HarounDrama
2015Parler de Rose, Prisonnière de Hissène HabréTalking with Rose, Prisoner of Hissène HabréIsabel CoixetDocumentarySpanish doc shot in Chad
2017Hissein Habré, une Tragédie TchadienneHissène Habré, a Chadian TragedyMahamat-Saleh HarounDocumentaryCo-produced by Senegal, France, Netherlands and the United Kingdom
2021Lingui, les liens sacrésLingui, The Sacred BondsMahamat-Saleh HarounDrama