Opening Kaboom Amsterdam

Because this year’s theme Human Touch isn’t only about handcrafted art, but also about people coming together and being touched by each other’s stories. Allah Is Not Obliged For his debut feature, director Zaven Najjar (art director of La Sirène, 2023) did both. He visited the original locations where Ahmadou Kourouma’s celebrated Ivorian novel is set and sketched on site. But he also went there to meet people – you cannot tell the story of West African child soldiers without thoroughly educating yourself. And talking to those involved, soldiers, survivors. Najjar’s protagonist Birahima is a twelve-year-old from Guinea who, after being orphaned, is sent to live with his aunt in Liberia. That country is being torn apart by warlords, however, and he quickly gets arrested, drilled, armed and sent out on raids. With his Armenian ancestry from Syria and Lebanon, Najjar also has personal experience of how families talk about civil wars. Or don’t. Similarly to his producer Sébastien Onomo, who is of Cameroonian descent. Together with their team, they crafted a beautiful film that grabs you by the throat.