For his latest competition entry to the Cannes Film Festival, Chadian director Mahamet-Saleh Haroun once again returns to the streets of Chad for his inspiration, but this time he tells a very different story. For the first time in his 30 year career, his film places female characters in the lead, and it tackles the sensitive issue of abortion in a Muslim community. “Lingui, the Sacred Bonds,” tells the story of Amina, a thirty-something mother and practicing Muslim, who lives with her daughter Maria. As a Muslim, she is shocked to discover her daughter is pregnant. It’s an unwanted pregnancy for the teenager, who has her mind set on an abortion. Amina finds herself faced with a dilemma in a country where abortion isn’t just condemned by religion, it’s also prohibited by law. Haroun, raised by his “extraordinary” grandmother who instilled a feminism in him that has kept him sensitive to women’s causes, has never been one to shy away from hot button issues in his work.
SOURCE: INDIEWIRE