Official Competition

Lingui, the Sacred Bonds

Lingui, les liens sacrés

Following his international success with A Screaming Man, Daratt and Abouna, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s powerful new drama once again celebrates the heroic individualism of ordinary people.

  • Director-Screenwriter

    Mahamat-Saleh Haroun

  • Producer

    Florence Stern

  • With

    Achouackh Abakar Souleymane, Rihane Khalil Alio, Youssouf Djaoro

  • Chad-France-Germany-Belgium 2021. 87min

  • UK Distribution

    MUBI

  • Language

    French

    With English subtitles

Amina (Achouackh Abakar Souleymane), a single mother and practicing Muslim who lives on the outskirts of the Chadian capital of N’Djamena, discovers that her 15-year-old daughter (Rihane Khalil Alio) is pregnant. Having been expelled from school, Maria also announces that she doesn’t want the child. In a country where abortion is severely punished, Maria’s situation reveals the scale of gender imbalance across all strata of society. However, Amina believes in the sacred bonds that bind humanity, or the Lingui – invisible to the eye and with its roots deep in the fabric of African culture. Finding solidarity with other women, Amina becomes increasingly determined to support her daughter. Haroun’s profoundly humane and visually ravishing drama is powered by Abakar’s towering performance as a woman caught between her faith and her love for her daughter.

Keith Shiri

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