Lingui, The Sacred Bonds

Pioneering Chadian auteur Mahamat-Saleh Haroun is in blistering form with his latest film, a feminist social realist drama exploring abortion rights in conservative Chadian society. Amina (Achouackh Abakar Souleymane) is an independent woman, exiled by her family after becoming pregnant as a young girl, and now the single mother of a teenager. She finds herself in a race against time and the forces of patriarchy when her daughter Maria (Rihane Khalil Alio) is expelled from school after she gets pregnant. Determined to give her child opportunities that were denied her, Amina supports Maria’s effort to have an abortion, a procedure that is not merely frowned upon but also illegal. Impeccably shot and tenderly realized, Lingui adds to the abortion conversation not with chaos or hubris, but with a curiosity that engages fully with the women who insist on preserving their bodily autonomy despite very real threats of violence.