The Sonikcycle Syndicate

CHAD. chad. Chad. cHaD. I love to say the word “Chad.”

The Republic of Chad has forever enchanted me. I learned of Chad back in my school daze when I saw it on a map — an empty looking chunk of North Central Africa. Chad’s neighbors — Libya, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and The Sudan — all seem to crop up in conversation, periodically, at least. I know people from all of those countries except Libya. But Chad, land of mystery, has eluded my perception. The closest I seem to have ever gotten to Chad was to have lived next-door to a peculiar boy named Chad (not Chadwick, just Chad). That is, until recently, when I met some one who knows someone from Chad, land of mystery. My brief yet pointed “grilling” yielded little in the way of what Chad is like. But I was getting closer ;->

Last night, as I perused the racks at the local B@$$buster, a film directed by a Chadian and filmed in Chad just jumped off the shelf at me. Oh happy, happy day! The title of the film is Abouna, and it’s a deeply cultural film that I found delightful and satisfying… I was witnessing CHAD!!!! At the end, there’s a very informative interview with Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, the director.

So, if you too are intrigued by Chad, check out Abouna (and Bye Bye Africa). As for me, I hope to actually visit Chad sometime next year. Just so I can say, “Yes, I have seen Chad, land of mystery, with my own two eyes ;->”

Technorati Tags: chad, africa, abouna

This entry was posted on Monday, July 17th, 2006 at 8:10 pm and is filed under Earth. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.