Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s LINGUI, THE SACRED BONDS – Q&A event at Film Forum

Co-presented by Africa Is a Country – Friday, February 4 at 6:50

Beginning Saturday, February 5, all 6:50 shows will be followed by a recorded Q&A with Haroun & Souleymane, moderated by film critic Beandrea July.

Synopsis:

In this timely, cathartic drama, Chadian filmmaker Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (A SCREAMING MAN) elevates the saying “It takes a village” to a profound and even sacred necessity. When her 15-year-old daughter becomes pregnant, a single mother’s shame and conflict swiftly transform into fierce maternal determination. The pair’s harrowing quest to secure an abortion potently expands to a web of resilient women (here lingui refers to collective resistance in the face of catastrophic odds) as Haroun melds sober reality with gorgeous visual storytelling. This superb film infuses both thought and feeling into a subject that our own nation continues to struggle with 50 years after abortion was declared legal by the Supreme Court.

2021    87 MINS.    Chad/France/Germany/Belgium    IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES    MUBI

Reviews:

“This is one of Haroun’s richest pictorial works, and it’s a great pleasure to see his elegant, richly colored compositions in the service of a fully feminist film.”
– Amy Taubin, Artforum

“A fairly simple story that the legendary filmmaker Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (A SCREAMING MAN) turns into a moral parable, a cri de coeur and a formalist wonder; the use of composition, color and pacing he employs here is virtually peerless. Impressive. My favorite movie of the Toronto Film Festival.”
– David Fear, Rolling Stone