DAO

From Viennale

There is an intellectual pleasure in watching films whose aesthetic framework is shaped by an overarching concept or idea. With its title referring to “a perpetual and circular movement that unifies the world”, Alain Gomis’s DAO initially seems to herald a fluid, continuous exploration of philosophical, social, and cultural dualities, but quickly reveals the inner tensions simmering beneath. Like the unfolding of a double helix that seamlessly alternates between strands, DAO follows two pivotal ceremonies in its protagonist Gloria’s life: a commemorative ritual in honour of her late father in rural Guinea-Bissau and her daughter Nour’s wedding on the outskirts of Paris. While DAO fascinates as an immersive experience through its sweeping duration and improvisational rhythm, the film is most riveting in its generosity towards the persistent fissures opened up by colonialism, immigration and globalisation—between countries, generations and identities. While Gomis tactfully avoids using these as dramatic catalysts, it is through such fissures that rituals transcend their ornamental, ethnographic logic—even those stemming from the making of a film, as exemplified by the casting session scenes—and become authentic depictions of human connection. (Öykü Sofuoğlu)