In this series of short films, women take the center stage. Through documentary and narrative films from countries like Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia, the women depicted in each film make space for their needs, desires, and lives.
In a cotton-farming village in Sudan, 15-year-old Nafisa has a crush on Babiker, but her parents have arranged her marriage to Nadir, a young Sudanese businessman living abroad. Nafisa’s grandmother Al-Sit, the powerful village matriarch, has her own plans for Nafisa's future. But can Nafisa choose for herself?
Festivals and Awards
Grand Prix Award, Tampere Film Festival, Finland, 2021
Best of Fest, LA Shorts, USA, 2021
Best Short Film, BronzeLens Film Festival, USA, 2021
About the filmmaker
Suzannah Mirghani is a writer, researcher, and independent filmmaker. She is a media studies and museum studies graduate. Mixed-race Sudanese and Russian, she is interested in stories about the complexity of identity. Mirghani is the writer, director, and producer of Al-Sit (2020, Sudan/Qatar), which won 18 international awards, including three Academy Award qualifying prizes in 2021: Best of Fest at LA Shorts; Grand Prix at Tampere Film Festival; and Best Short Film at BronzeLens. Other awards include the Canal+ Award at Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival; Best Short Film at Zanzibar Film Festival; and Jury Award at Busan Short Film Festival. Her latest short is the experimental Virtual Voice (2021), which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival. Suzannah is working on her first feature Cotton Queen, a magical realist tale set in the cotton fields of Sudan.
- Year2020
- Runtime20 minutes
- LanguageArabic
- CountrySudan, Qatar
- DirectorSuzannah Mirghani
- ScreenwriterSuzannah Mirghani
- ProducerSuzannah Mirghani, Eiman Mirghani
- CastMihad Murtada, Rabiha Mohammed Mahmoud, Mohammed Magdi, Haram Bashir, Alsir Mahjoub
- CinematographerKhalid Awad
- EditorAbdelrahim Kattab, Suzannah Mirghani
In this series of short films, women take the center stage. Through documentary and narrative films from countries like Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia, the women depicted in each film make space for their needs, desires, and lives.
In a cotton-farming village in Sudan, 15-year-old Nafisa has a crush on Babiker, but her parents have arranged her marriage to Nadir, a young Sudanese businessman living abroad. Nafisa’s grandmother Al-Sit, the powerful village matriarch, has her own plans for Nafisa's future. But can Nafisa choose for herself?
Festivals and Awards
Grand Prix Award, Tampere Film Festival, Finland, 2021
Best of Fest, LA Shorts, USA, 2021
Best Short Film, BronzeLens Film Festival, USA, 2021
About the filmmaker
Suzannah Mirghani is a writer, researcher, and independent filmmaker. She is a media studies and museum studies graduate. Mixed-race Sudanese and Russian, she is interested in stories about the complexity of identity. Mirghani is the writer, director, and producer of Al-Sit (2020, Sudan/Qatar), which won 18 international awards, including three Academy Award qualifying prizes in 2021: Best of Fest at LA Shorts; Grand Prix at Tampere Film Festival; and Best Short Film at BronzeLens. Other awards include the Canal+ Award at Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival; Best Short Film at Zanzibar Film Festival; and Jury Award at Busan Short Film Festival. Her latest short is the experimental Virtual Voice (2021), which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival. Suzannah is working on her first feature Cotton Queen, a magical realist tale set in the cotton fields of Sudan.
- Year2020
- Runtime20 minutes
- LanguageArabic
- CountrySudan, Qatar
- DirectorSuzannah Mirghani
- ScreenwriterSuzannah Mirghani
- ProducerSuzannah Mirghani, Eiman Mirghani
- CastMihad Murtada, Rabiha Mohammed Mahmoud, Mohammed Magdi, Haram Bashir, Alsir Mahjoub
- CinematographerKhalid Awad
- EditorAbdelrahim Kattab, Suzannah Mirghani