Yann Demange Bears His Soul In 'Dammi' At Toronto Film Festival Ahead Of 'Blade' Revival
Image Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Yann Demange is the talk of the Toronto Film Festival with his short film Dammi. The short is a biographical film with Riz Ahmed taking on the role of Mounir, a stand-in for Demange, and Demange’s real father Yousfi Henine playing the father of Mounir. Demange explained his process in approaching the short film, “I didn’t want to go through the process of trying to get a feature version made and people not understanding it. You have to try and make it adhere to conventions for it to be accessible. This gave me freedom and I felt very vulnerable making this. It was the most exposing that it is actually my father in the film. That’s my dad. It’s funny, we never really hugged or fought, but he’s a very old-school man, and we don’t talk. Making this film got me the closest I’ve ever been to him, even though it’s Riz having these conversations, and moments with him that I’ve never had. But it was like we had them through him. It was like a strange therapy.”
Demange recalled his father being speechless at the premiere, “From his side, we were estranged and got to know each other later in life, and I was trying to make sense of my heritage and get to know my Algerian side more. But when you saw the film, it was the first time he felt like I spoke to him, and he understood. Emotionally, it was a very charged moment.”
RELATED:
Image Source: tiffr
The short focuses on Mounir trying to find his identity by exploring his Algerian and French roots. The film, though autobiographical, uses surreal imagery like fog and shady alleys to emphasize the metaphysical even as it follows Demange’s real feeling of not belonging to either tribe. His father was a Muslim in Paris while his mother was a Catholic in Paris. Demange said, “My parents left my identity for me to figure out. Neither claimed me for their tribe. So at a very early age, one thing became clear to me. I’d always be an outsider.”
According to Demange, this moving short film was meant to be a palette cleanser before the filmmaker reboots Blade for the MCU. While Dammi is a serious film with raw and real emotions, Blade will focus on the roughness and ruthlessness of the character played by Mahershala Ali. Demange described the character as someone with dignity, integrity, and a hidden ferocity.
READ NEXT:
Source(s): Deadline, Film Threat
Latest News
Featured
