Lingui, the Sacred Bonds

Mahamat-Saleh Haroun's 2021 film is set on the outskirts of N'Djamena, the capital of Chad. Amina raises her daughter Maria alone, stripping old tyres to make and sell barbecue grills. When she learns that fifteen-year-old Maria is pregnant and does not want the child, an impossible road opens for both of them: abortion is condemned by religion and criminalised by law. The search mother and daughter undertake builds a bond that never existed between them, and other women appear around them, helping quietly. The title comes from a Chadian term for solidarity. Haroun treats the subject not as a debate but as a practical daily problem for two women. It reached the competition at Cannes and was Chad's Oscar submission. Who it's for: viewers who want African cinema and drama built on solidarity between women. Who it's not for: anyone who would rather not approach abortion, female genital cutting and sexual violence.