Out of Africa
THE AFRICAN FILM Lingui, from Chad, was in contention for the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Festival, but lost out to Julia Ducournau’s Titane. Despite Chad’s oil-wealth, its population of 16 million inhabit one of the least developed, poorest, and most corrupt countries in the world, and there is barely a film industry there. Mahamat-Saleh Haroun is practically a one-man band and the actresses in Lingui are non-professional.
Haroun, who served briefly between 2017 and 2018 as Chad’s Minister of Tourism, Culture and
