Rhythm of Dammam

The ancestral roots of the SIDDIS can be traced back to the Bantu peoples from Southeast Africa who were forcibly brought to the Indian subcontinent as slaves by Portuguese traders. Centuries of discrimination have pushed them down the socio-economic ladder, but their unique devotional music has given them a strong sense of identity.

Twelve-year-old Jayaram Siddi is haunted by the spirit of his late grandfather. As he begins to lose touch with reality, his family turns to tribal rituals and the healing power of Dammam music to help him find balance and confront intergenerational trauma.

USA/India, 2024, 92 mins, drama in Kannada, Urdu (with English subtitles), Jayan Cherian, dir. 

"Jayan Cherian's film blends realism with surrealism to produce a strikingly vivid image of the Siddi community's intergenerational trauma." ~ The News Minute

"an exceptionally evocative, visually arresting film." ~ NDTV Movies