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Lingui

Submissions for Best International Feature (Academy Awards 2022)

Lingui

2021

Mahamat-Saleh Haroun

Achouackh Abakar Souleymane, Rihane Khalil Alio, Youssouf Djaoro, Briya Gomdigue, Hadje Fatime N'Goua

6.3

356

Drama Amina, a practicing Muslim, lives with her daughter, 15-year-old Maria. When Amina learns Maria is pregnant and wants to abort the child, they face an impossible situation in a country where abortion is legally and morally condemned.

	Media	Author	Review
		Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"The sheer seriousness and urgency of the deceptively unhurried story give it power(…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Lovia Gyarkye The Hollywood Reporter	"Gorgeous and affecting (...) The city or landscape speaks for itself, calculated silences propel the narrative forward and facial expressions reveal motivations where language is insufficient"
		Guy Lodge Variety	"A return to form for director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, this taut, ravishingly shot film spurns the patriarchy in increasingly unexpected ways."
		Ben Kenigsberg rogerebert.com	"The film may be unique among his work for being openly feminist (...) Haroun does not pace his films with the urgency of other contemporary neo-realists, but the mother-daughter relationship is finely drawn and moving"
		Wendy Ide Screendaily	"In its own rather clunky way, this strikes a blow for feminism in central Africa (...) It may struggle to connect with audiences beyond the festival circuit."
		David Ehrlich IndieWire	"The entrancing space that 'Lingui' notches between personal circumstance and elemental strife mirrors the balance Haroun strikes between his spartan approach to narrative and newfound visual command"
		Steve Pond The Wrap	"Achouackh Abakar Souleymane and Rihane Khalil Alio shine in Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s subtle film about women in a hostile culture"
		Manohla Dargis The New York Times	"[Its] sisterhood is complex and at times fragile, but it is always rooted in the lived experiences and bodies of these women"
		Natalia Keogan Paste Magazine	"[It] never utilizes feminine trauma, pain and marginalization in a way that feels exploitative (...) Gorgeously realized and bolstered by amazing performances"
		Robert Daniels The Playlist	"For the acclaimed Chadian filmmaker, 'Lingui', his first foray into women-driven stories, wobbles with underdevelopment but still manages to be a harrowing tale of bodily freedom"
		Pat Brown Slant	"The material realities of being a woman in Chad are expressed with profound sympathy (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"
		David Katz The Film Stage	"What’s fascinating and most novel about African cinema great Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s new drama is the lack of an overtly religiose aura"
		Todd McCarthy Deadline	"[It] maintains an appealing natural rhythm rather than an imposed melodramatic one (...) It's both disarming and refreshing to encounter a change-of-pace coming from a relatively unlikely source"
		Dave Calhoun Time Out	"A powerful paean to the love between a mother and her daughter (...) A mood of grim inevitability morphs into a celebration of the art of the possible via solidarity and compassion (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Justin Chang Los Angeles Times	"The world it shows us, etched in fully felt performances and beautifully hued compositions, feels vividly, sometimes overwhelmingly present"

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