Ordinary Madness of a Daughter of Cham + Mist Melodies of Paris

Ordinary Madness of a Daughter of Ham (1986)
Dirs. Philippe Costantini, Jean Rouch, 75min
With Jenny Alpha, Sylvie Laporte, Cathérine Rougelin
In French with English subtitles

Two Caribbean women—seven decades apart in age—clash in a Paris madhouse. Adapted from Laou’s play of the same name, Folie ordinaire is a rare fiction film by cinéma vérité pioneer Jean Rouch, who wanted to take audiences on a journey with “no moment of respite… where those filming and those being filmed share the same emotion minute for minute.”

---

Mist Melodies of Paris (1985)
Dir. Julius-Amédée Laou, 23min
With Greg Germain
In French with English subtitles

A West Indian man struggles to repress traumatic memories from his time fighting on behalf of France in Algeria. While an encounter with his father offers a mournful lament of life under colonialism, Laou ultimately spins the story in an entirely different direction.