By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NEW YORK (IDN) \u2014 Mahamat-Saleh Haroun was seven years old when he first heard that a newborn baby was found dead in the trash. A few weeks later, another baby was similarly found. Tragically, this was nothing out of the ordinary in a repressive society that denied women the right to control their bodies, to have babies when they were ready, or to refuse to be cut in the practice known as FGM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUnwanted pregnancies are becoming an increasingly important problem,\u201d he said in a recent interview with IndieWire. \u201cThere are more and more reports of people discovering abandoned newborns, often dead. It\u2019s horrible\u2014all of that because of bans and the shame of carrying a so\u00ad-called \u2018illegitimate child.\u2019 \u201cFurther, clandestine abortions are dangerous with often tragic ends as many of the people who carry out abortions are charlatans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLingui, the Sacred Bonds,\u201d is the latest work by this accomplished cineaste who has already made six feature-length films \u2013 all but one set in Chad. Here, Haroun cuts away from his usual themes to tell the story of Amina, a thirty-something mother and practising Muslim, who lives with her daughter Maria. As a Muslim, she learns to her horror that her daughter is pregnant although she is not to learn why\u2014just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s an unwanted pregnancy for a teenager who is determined to have an abortion. Her mother finally comes round to the idea, and the question becomes: how to get the abortion done? The single mom confronts a dilemma in a country where abortion isn\u2019t just condemned by religion\u2014it\u2019s also prohibited by law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is a strong film about women\u2019s resistance and a forthright challenge to Chad\u2019s patriarchy. \u201cLingui, the Sacred Bonds,\u201d is noteworthy for another reason. It\u2019s the director\u2019s very first film with female leads since he launched his career almost 30 years ago, and here he has made a film that\u2019s sensitive to feminist causes in Chad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his formative years, Haroun was surrounded by women\u2014mother, aunties, four sisters, and one formidable grandmother who kept him sensitive to women\u2019s causes. The day after he was beaten by a teacher at a Koranic school, his grandmother marched up to give the man a piece of her mind: \u201cMy grandson will never come back to your school!\u201d she declared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNormally, a woman would never do this. The shame!\u201d he recalled with a smile. \u201cShe had a very strong personality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After three decades behind the camera, Haroun remains determined to represent Chad on screen. There are very few filmmakers in the country and if Haroun stopped making films, audiences would likely never see images of the country or get the Chadian worldview on the big screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He believes African directors have a responsibility, to be honest when dealing with the problems of the continent. \u201cCinema can\u2019t be a luxury or just entertainment,\u201d he said. \u201cNot for Africans where there are so many problems, remnants of colonialism, that we can\u2019t. African filmmakers have a duty to wake people up, into thinking about the continent\u2019s future. That a film can change the course of history in a country like Chad, I find that miraculous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His female leads\u2014Chadian actresses Achouackh Abakar Souleymane as Amina and Rihane Khalil Alio as Maria\u2014both came into the project with little to no experience in acting. Haroun attributes this to the absence of a film infrastructure in the country, which he hopes can change with the growing international acceptance of his films.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey are non-professional, but for me, they are my professionals,\u201d he said of his female stars. \u201cIn Chad, where there isn\u2019t a film industry or training grounds, they are professional, and it\u2019s just their first film.\u201d [IDN-InDepthNews \u2013 07 February 2022]<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Photo: Mahamat Saleh Haroun at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. Wikimedia Commons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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