Lingui

In the outskirts of N’djamena in Chad, single mother Amina lives with her 15-year-old daughter, Maria. Their already fragile world implodes when it appears her daughter is pregnant and does not want the baby. In a country where religion as well as law forbids abortion, Amina seems to already have lost the fight before she begins. This film is part of the calm tradition of African cinema. But even though it may seem mild, the story is driven by the urge to force African men to look in the mirror: on their look on abortion and the holy connection between mother and child; how their resistance to abortion goes hand in hand with championing genital mutilation. These are two powerful and charismatic roles that Achouackh Abakar (Amina) and Rihane Khalil Alio (Maria) play. Their intense acting keeps us very alert: as a viewer we know everything that is at stake and how the mother and daughter have to fight to survive, while balancing on the cliff of shame.

This is the story of a handful of women and the bonds that bind them, and that help form their sisterhood. Women such as Amina’s long lost sister and a helping midwife. Haroun shows us these women time and time again in action, in protest, fleeing and escaping, but sometimes even happy and triumphant, because while the credits are rolling, you can hear women laughing…