Demons to Diamonds
Fall Grants 2024 - Production Stage
Valentin Noujaïm / Short Narrative / Lebanon, France, Switzerland, Canada, Italy, Qatar / 20 min / Original Language: Arabic, Cantonese, English, French / Interests: Fiction
Synopsis
“In the towering labyrinth of steel and glass that is La Défense, the business district of Paris, the city hums with an eerie, frenetic energy. Shot on gritty 16mm, interwoven with fragmented CCTV footage and surreal VFX, the film plunges into a decaying world where paranoia and dread linger like an unspoken curse. A meticulously crafted miniature city becomes both playground and battleground for this urban myth—a space where reality warps and collapses under the crushing weight of fear. A wave of mysterious suicides spreads through the district, igniting a collective paranoia that reverberates like a silent scream.
Claire, Mister Ying, Catherine, and Madame Solange—isolated yet unknowingly intertwined—grapple with their inner demons. Beneath the city’s surface, a mysterious figure lurks, an oracle of the catastrophe yet to come. As the city crumbles, destruction becomes an inescapable force, but within the ruins flickers a fragile possibility of rebirth—a fleeting hope amid the devastation. A blend of film noir, fantasy, and social allegory, ‘Demons to Diamonds’ captures the collective paranoia of a society in freefall. Rendered in cold, decaying hues of blue and green, the film’s layered visuals and fractured narrative pose a haunting question: in a city consumed by ghosts, what does it mean to truly survive?”
Credits
- Director
- Valentin NOUJAÏM
- Screenwriter
- Valentin NOUJAÏM
- Producer
- Manon MESSIANT, Leonardo BIGAZZI
- Production Company
- Iliade et films
About the Director
"Valentin Noujaïm graduated from the Screenwriting Department of La Fémis in Paris and was a guest student at the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main. Noujaïm's work challenges dominant narratives in society, shedding light on the lives of individuals and communities historically marginalised by systemic violence. The fantasised worlds he creates through his films also underline his commitment to exploring different formats: 16mm film, archives, digital footage, and special effects. Noujaïm will present his first institutional solo show in 2025. His films have been selected for numerous festivals, including CPH:DOX, Visions du Réel, Les Césars, IFFR, DocLisboa, BAFICI, DokuFest, BlackStar Film Festival, and Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur. His work has also been presented in several group exhibitions: Nîmes Triennale (2024), Museo Madre (2024), Magasins Généraux (2023), CNAC Magasin (2022), Salon de Montrouge (2022), Air de Paris Gallery (2022), and Saatchi Gallery (2021), among others. His works are part of the collections of the CNAP, KADIST, FRAC Bretagne, and Lafayette Anticipations.
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