Ali Cherri

Film

Dernière garde avant l'aube continues the investigation into the figures of power, control and the production of violence which has been part of my work for several years now. In this, the figure of the guard occupies a central position as an ambiguous presence that is at once protective and oppressive, hovering between vigilance and threat.

Dernière garde avant l'aube is an immersion in the world of the army, which disciplines and normalises bodies, in which individuality must give way to a single, efficient and war-hardened body ready to defend and, if necessary, die for the fatherland. The film is articulated around a permanent tension between the real and a dreamlike floating.

The ideology of the army rests on the postulate that a society cannot be protected  without being disciplined, illustrating what Foucault calls the “microphysics of power,” whereby society shapes, controls and regulates its citizens. What we are currently seeing in Europe seems to be a reactivation of these logics of corporeal discipline, but on a broader political and economic scale. The rise in geopolitical tension, the war in Ukraine and the fear of a broadening conflict have driven European governments to reinvest massively in the military apparatus.

Dernière garde avant l’aube is a film about the weight of duty, about the solitude of those who are unable to integrate. In following the soldier Lafleur, the film interrogates what it means to “hang on” in a system that makes no allowance for weakness.

Ali Cherri

Ali Cherri was born in Beirut. He lives and works in Paris. His work explores the links between history, heritage and political violence, questioning the way in which national ideologies are inscribed  in displaced bodies, territories and cultural objects. In 2022, he was awarded the Silver Lion at the Venice Biennale for his Titans sculpture series, presented as part of the international exhibition “The Milk of Dreams”. His art has been presented at a number of biennales, including: SITE Santa Fe International (2025); the Sesc\_Videobrasil Bieñal, São Paulo (2023); the Sharjah Biennale (2023 and 2017); the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India (2022); the Venice Biennale (2022); Manifesta 13, Marseille (2020); and the Ural Industrial Biennial, Ekaterinburg  (2019). His work can be found in the collections  of international institutions including MoMA (New York), the Centre Pompidou (Paris), the Guggenheim (New York and Abu Dhabi), MACBA (Barcelona), the Sursock Museum (Beirut), the British Museum (London), the Jameel Arts Center (Dubai) and the Mathaf (Doha).

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