Lingui, the Sacred Bonds moves the way certain days do: quiet, deliberate, and heavy with meaning that only reveals itself with the passage of time.
Set in N’Djamena, Chad, the film follows Amina, a single mother and tire-maker, and her teenage daughter Maria as they navigate a series of private challenges in a society that offers them few choices.
Director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun resists spectacle, allowing gestures and glances to speak where words fall short. With sound design that hums with the texture of daily life (buzzing mopeds, murmured devotions, the scrape of sandals on dirt), Lingui builds its world without urgency. Haroun avoids sentimentality, letting silence and gesture carry the emotional weight. This is a film that trusts the viewer to notice what matters and to sit with what is left unsaid.
Week 5: August 29, 30, 31
Dir. Mahamat Saleh Haroun (2021); France, Chad, Germany, Belgium; French, Chadian Arabic; 87 min
Programmed by Naomi Nguyen
Friday, August 29 at 6:00 PM & 8:30 PM
Saturday, August 30 at 6:00 PM & 8:30 PM
Sunday, August 31 at 3:00 PM