Monday, September 15, 2025, 6:00 PM
French Library
53 Marlborough St.
Boston, MA 02116
Join us for a rare evening with Moroccan-born writer and filmmaker Abdellah Taïa, who will be present to introduce and discuss his award-winning debut feature Salvation Army, adapted from his acclaimed eponymous autobiographical novel. With a poetic yet honest eye, Taïa tells the story of a young man navigating family, desire, and exile, from the crowded streets of Morocco to the disorienting freedom of Europe.
Structured in two movements; first as a teenager in Salé, where silence and violence rule within a large family, and later as a student in Geneva, Salvation Army strips away conventional dialogue to let glances, gestures, and visual spaces speak.
The film’s striking imagery comes from the collaboration with acclaimed cinematographer Agnès Godard (Chocolat, Beau Travail), best known for her work on Claire Denis’s postcolonial, sexually complex films. Taïa’s cinematic style draws inspiration from both European art cinema and the Egyptian films of Youssef Chahine, blending cultural legacies into a visually sophisticated, emotionally resonant work.
Premiering at the Venice Film Festival and TIFF, Salvation Army went on to win the Grand Prix at the Angers European First Film Festival and the Sundance Institute Global Filmmaking Award.
Following the screening, Abdellah Taïa will take part in a discussion with the audience. This is a unique opportunity to engage directly with one of the most original voices in contemporary French-language literature and cinema.
Want to read the novel before the screening?
Abdellah Taïa’s Salvation Army is available in English from MIT Press. You can order your copy directly here The evening will conclude with a wine reception, offering time to continue the conversation with fellow cinephiles.
Movie in Arabic and French with English subtitles.
The Q&A that will follow the screening will be in English.
Members $14
Non-Members $18
About Abdellah Taïa
Born in Rabat in 1973, Abdellah Taïa is the author of several novels in French published by Éditions du Seuil and Julliard, including Salvation Army, An Arab Melancholia, and A Country for Dying. His work has been translated and published in the United States by Semiotext(e) and Seven Stories Press.
Taïa made his directorial debut with Salvation Army (2013), which premiered at the Venice Film Festival and TIFF, winning the Grand Prix at the Angers European First Film Festival and the Sundance Institute Global Filmmaking Award in 2016. His second feature, Cabo Negro, will be released in 2025. His short film Cairo Streets has been selected for the Locarno, Toronto, and New York International Film Festivals in 2025.
And if you’d like to explore more of Abdellah Taïa’s literary work, join us on Tuesday, September 16 at 7:00 PM at Brookline Booksmith for a special Transnational Literature Series event, where Taïa will be in conversation with our librarian Benoit Landon, to discuss his novels Living in Your Light and Salvation Army.
For full details and to RSVP, visit the Transnational Series event page.