Saturday, March 14 / 6:30 pm / Ottawa Art Gallery

Program: Chín (Ripe), Cotton Queen

Feature presentation \

Sudanese writer-director Suzannah Mirghani’s award-winning, politically charged coming-of-age debut feature is set in a remote cotton-farming village in Sudan and revolves around an intelligent, sensitive teenager, Nafisa, as her life arrives at the thorny crossroads of tradition and modernity. Counselled by her wise, defiant grandmother, Al-Sit, whose stories and memories of resistance against British colonialism keep the village aware of its past and its independent present, Nafisa soon becomes the focal point of an entirely new struggle. When a wealthy entrepreneur arrives from abroad with a proposal to modernise the village’s cotton industry and seeks her hand in marriage, Nafisa is thrust into a series of personal and political challenges. Torn between desire and duty, and fiercely resisting this proposed marital arrangement, she must now confront urgent questions about her future and that of her community. Powerful and perceptive, Cotton Queen is unforgettable. Having its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, Cotton Queen went on to garner much critical acclaim and to win awards for Best Feature Film at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival as well as the Audience Award at the Doha Film Festival.

Tom McSorley

“Mirghani crafts an intimate and politically layered portrait of Sudanese womanhood, weaving themes of identity, matriarchy, and resistance into a richly textured narrative. Filmed after the outbreak of war in Sudan in 2023 and recreated in Egypt with Sudanese refugees, the production itself mirrors the film’s themes of displacement, resilience, and creative endurance. With lyrical cinematography and understated performances, the poignant film stands as a cinematic ode to the strength and spirit of women who persist, create, and dream in the face of loss and upheaval.”   Doha Film Festival

Short film \

Ripe

Chín

2025 / 20 minutes / British Columbia
Director: Solara Thanh Bình Đặng
Language: Vietnamese
Subtitles: English

Lệ must decide if she will enter an arranged marriage in order to support her family of struggling durian farmers.