DAO

FRANCE, SENEGAL, GUINEA-BISSAU | 2026 | COLOR | DCP | 185’ | FRENCH, WOLOF, MANJAK, GUINEA-BISSAU CREOLE

Spanning like a truly striking mural of people and nations, the epic ‘DAO’ brings together two family ceremonies: a wedding in the wealthy Parisian suburbs and a memorial service in the villages of Guinea-Bissau. Between the wedding celebrations and the mourning ceremony, Alain Gomis blends fiction with autobiographical drama and observational documentary, transforming a journey through memory and tradition into a unique multisensory experience. Set to evocative jazz melodies and exquisite sound design, the camera’s circular movements mirror the ceaseless rhythms of real life as the Senegalese director delivers a narratively intricate commentary on identity and origin, both in danger of disappearing at the crossroads between the old and the new world, on globalization succeeding colonialism and on the everyday rituals –big and small– that carry the memories and traditions of a profound cultural heritage. Thodoris Karamanolis

DIRECTOR: Alain Gomis
SCREENWRITER: Alain Gomis
DoP: Amath Niane, Céline Bozon, Mabeye Deme
MUSIC: Gaspard Gomis, Space Dukes, Keïta Janota, Abdullah Ibrahim
EDITORS: Alain Gomis, Fabrice Rouaud, Assetou Koné, Dimitri Ouedraogo, Elizabeth Ndiaye, Moustapha Mbalo Dieng
PRINCIPAL CAST: Katy Correa, D'Johé Kouadio, Samir Guesmi, Mike Etienne

ALAIN GOMIS

French-Senegalese film director and screenwriter born on March 6, 1972, in Paris, France. He studied art history and film at the Sorbonne University in Paris. He founded a socio-cultural film hub and school in Dakar, Senegal in 2018 to foster independent production and local talent across West Africa. He won Silver Bear Grand Jury in Berlin and Silver Leopard in Locarno for Félicité and As A Man, respectively.

FILMOGRAPHY
2026 DAO
2017 Félicité
2012 Today
2007 Andalucia
2001 As a Man