SPAIN / GERMANY · 2023 · PG-13
In her dazzling debut feature, artist, filmmaker, and professor Isabel Herguera draws inspiration from feminist-utopian science fiction story Sultana’s Dream, penned by Bengali writer Rokeya Hossain in 1905. Rokeya’s revered fable revolves around Ladyland—an abstract world where women rule and men are kept out of sight.
When Inés, a young Spanish artist traveling in India, stumbles upon this pioneering text in a local library, she begins to wake up to the constraints of her own world. Finding a mysterious postcard between the pages of Rokeya’s book, she embarks on a quest to uncover Ladyland, and the trailblazing thinker who dreamed it up. As Inés encounters philosophers, historians, a kindred teacher, and her own parents, she finds that the struggle for equality and empowerment is as complex as ever.
Receiving the 2024 Contrechamp Grand Prix at Annecy for pushing the boundaries of animation, Sultana’s Dream combines mesmerizing watercolors, shadow silhouettes, and intricate patterns of mehndi body art, while vividly examining themes of gender dynamics, colonialism, personal freedom, and intellectual awakening. Inés’ voyage of self-discovery, the story of Rokeya’s life and influence, and a fantastical city of women are intricately woven into an idiosyncratic dreamlike narrative that floats between place and time, real and imagined. Isabel’s dynamic voice and artistry shine throughout, making this a layered and vital exploratory piece of cinema—transcendent in its execution and revolutionary in its vision.