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Ghost Trail film image; man in headphones looking over shoulder

Ghost Trail

Les Fantômes

Panorama

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North American Premiere

Hamad (Adam Bessa) arrives in Strasbourg on the hunt for a fellow Syrian exile, his “cousin,” Sami. Could he be the notorious prison interrogator who tortured countless adversaries of the Assad regime? The refugee community receives his inquiries with suspicion. The war may be over, but that only makes it harder to recognize your enemy. And the scarred, terse, brooding Hamad doesn’t seem like he’s bringing gifts from home. Then again, who can vouch for Sami?

Jonathan Millet’s crisp, menacing thriller keeps us guessing as Hamad circles his target, convinced in his bones but unable to definitively prove that he’s found his man. As to what he means to do with him, that too can be inferred — there’s a secret support network lurking in the shadows — but it’s not even clear that Hamad has settled on the end game.

Critics have been quick to draw parallels with Spielberg’s Munich. Millet’s movie is leaner and tighter, largely playing out across close-ups of Bessa’s pensive, pained face — until we finally sit down and get to know Tawfeek Barhom’s “Sami” in a couple of chilling late scenes.

Director
Cast

Adam Bessa, Tawfeek Barhom, Julia Franz Richter, Hala Rajab, Shafiqa El Till, Sylvain Samson

Credits
Country of Origin

France/Germany/Belgium

Year

2024

Language

In French, Arabic and English with English subtitles

Film Contact
Links
18+

At International Village

19+

At Fifth Avenue

105 min
Action & Suspense Drama
Films Grand Huit

Book Tickets

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Credits & Director

Producer

Pauline Seigland

Screenwriter

Jonathan Millet, Florence Rochat

Cinematography

Olivier Boonjing

Editor

Laurent Sénéchal

Original Music

Yuksek

Jonathan Millet headshot; Ghost Trail director

Jonathan Millet

After studying philosophy, Jonathan Millet filmed in over fifty countries for image databases, capturing remote regions and learning to convey atmosphere through his lens. His debut feature-length documentary, Ceuta, Douce Prison (2013), was shown at over 60 international festivals, followed by Tell Me About the Stars (2017) and La Disparition (2021). He directed several acclaimed short films, including Et Toujours Nous Marcherons, which was nominated for a César Award in 2018. Ghost Trail is his first fiction feature film.

Filmography: Ceuta, Douce Prison (2013); Tell Me About the Stars (2017); The Wake (2017); La Disparition (2021)

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