Lingui: The Sacred Bonds 15

Directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, the first Chadian feature film director, comes Lingui, the Sacred Bonds. The film follows thirty-year-old Amina (Souleymane), who lives alone with her only child, the fifteen-year-old Maria. When Amina learns Maria is not only pregnant but wishes to terminate the pregnancy, the two women face an impossible situation in a country where abortion is legally and morally condemned. Maria’s situation reveals the scale of gender imbalance across society, and Haroun’s empathetic and visually stunning drama is powered by Souleymane’s performance as a woman caught between her faith and her love for her young daughter.