SummaryOn the outskirts of the capital of Chad, determined single mother Amina works tirelessly to provide for herself and her 15-year old daughter Maria. When Amina discovers Maria is pregnant and does not want a child, the two women begin to seek out an abortion, condemned by both religion and law.
Directed By:Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
Written By:Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
Lingui, The Sacred Bonds
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
83
User score
Universal Acclaim
8.1
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Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
94% Positive
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
6% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Feb 3, 2022
100
Again and again, Haroun shows you Amina and Maria alone and together, at times exchanging hugs or tenderly bowing their heads toward each other. Every so often, you see each running along a street alone, her clothes fluttering and body straining with effort. He shows feet and braids, a flash of a bared leg, the teasing glimpse of a belly. He shows you women in motion and in revolt, fleeing and escaping and at times running sly, joyous circles around the men in their lives.
Feb 23, 2022
90
Mr. Haroun is a sophisticated filmmaker who alternates bold, almost impressionistic strokes with quietly meditative passages, and his cinematographer, Mathieu Giombini, works in astonishing colors that can be bold and exquisitely subtle almost simultaneously.
User score
Universal Acclaim
92% Positive
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
8% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
Aug 8, 2022
10
Best movie of the year. Greatest chadian movie of the decade. And one of the best movies in African cinema. R.E.S.P.E.C.T Mahamat-Saleh Haroun.
Apr 9, 2022
7
As far as it goes, there is nothing cerebral or complex about the story. The title itself reveals its focus, which is the bond between a mother and his daughter in a situation as complicated as teenage pregnancy, but despite its familiar plot, it's the environment in which they live that transforms this story into something more delicate and thorny. Lingui, The Sacred Bonds is a practical and accessible film, but quite illustrative of a situation that remains so complicated for women around the world.
Jul 12, 2021
83
Lingui can only exist in the face of great hardship, and Haroun’s surprisingly cathartic film honors the tradition by celebrating the fact that it still does.
Jul 9, 2021
80
It’s a simple, angry work, determined to get across its point with force and with few distractions.
Feb 4, 2022
75
As we tag along with Haroun’s characters, we learn to appreciate their story as a small, but vivid study of lives that are so much more than their progressive developments.
Jul 11, 2021
60
In its own rather clunky way, the film strikes a blow for feminism in central Africa, and Amina, who strikes several literal blows on the man who impregnated her daughter, ends the film unexpectedly empowered by the experience.
Mar 9, 2022
7
'Lingui, The Sacred Bonds' sadly reminds us that women's body is in control of everyone but themselves. Through a straightforward story about a teenage girl and her mother desperately looking for an abortion for the first one, director Mahamat-Saleh Harou denounces the primitive way in which women are treated. But, above all, this is a story about sorority and the unmeasurable love between a mother and her daughter. When everything is against them, only other women will be there for them.
Production Company:
- Pili Films
- Goï Goï Productions
- Made In Germany Filmproduktion
- Beluga Tree
- Canal+ International
- Proximus
- Canal+
- Ciné+
- TV5MONDE
- Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC)
- Indéfilms 8
- Cinémage 4
- Film- und Medienstiftung NRW
- CNC/FFA Mini-Traite
- Centre du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuel de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles
- Coopération Belge au Développement
Release Date:Feb 4, 2022
Duration:1 h 27 m
Website:
Awards
Hamburg Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
National Board of Review, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Torino Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
