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Mubi, the London-based streamer and theatrical distributor, has acquired North America, U.K. and more territories on Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s “Lingui, The Sacred Bonds,” a highlight of the Cannes Film Festival competition.

The powerful Chadian abortion drama has received unanimous critical praise and is being talked about as a potential Palme d’Or winner at the midpoint of the festival. On top of the U.S. and the U.K., Mubi has acquired the film for Ireland, Latin America and Turkey.

Penned by Haroun, “Lingui, The Sacred Bonds” is set on the outskirts of N’djamena in Chad, where Amina lives with her 15-year-old daughter Maria. Her fragile world collapses when she discovers that her daughter is pregnant and does not want the pregnancy, in a country where abortion is not only condemned by religion, but also by law.

The film explores a bond between a mother and her daughter,...

In Chad, whose two main languages are Arabic and French, “lingui” is a distinct term meaning a “bond or connection”; the film’s alternate title gives it a more pious hue—the “sacred bonds.” But what’s fascinating and most novel about African cinema great Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s new drama is the lack of an overtly religiose aura: the bonds created by its generation-spanning units of women are uplifting and resilient, while sought independently from Chad’s ruling, patriarchal class. To compare with conditions in the West, an analog would be to radical women’s networks, or even experiments in collective living and solidarity like communes.

Lingui, the Sacred Bonds is a glossier, more expensive-looking film than Haroun’s prior work; it has a slightly off-putting, color-corrected digital sheen, and less emphasis on the negative space present in the environment—all those hulking deserts and azure skies. Compared to the...

“We are all brothers in Islam. Anyone with a problem can come to talk.” With these words, a local imam offers supposed comfort and counsel to troubled single mother Amina (Achouackh Abakar Souleymane), not considering that addressing her as his “brother” might not be the most welcoming invitation. Least of all for the problem Amina is nursing: Her 15-year-old daughter, Maria (Rihane Khalil Alio), is pregnant, and has no desire to bear the child. When, later on, a kindly midwife declares that Amina is “like my sister now,” that simple term of address is like a fresh supply of oxygen. In “Lingui,” a brief, quietly forceful new film from veteran Chadian director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Amina and Maria are faced with a man’s world at every turn; how they carve a woman’s one out of it makes for startling viewing.

For Haroun, “Lingui” is a bracing return to form...

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is dangling off a rooftop. To his left, he can see his best friend through a window, dying from a slit throat. To his right, he can see the murderer, also hanging for dear life. It’s a hell of a scene, a hell of an image, and yet — we feel nothing.

That’s “Domino,” a couple of interesting set pieces in search of a reason to exist, from director Brian De Palma. For most of his career, De Palma has been hailed as a modern master of suspense, or at least a dynamite visual stylist. And although many of his films — including “Carrie,” “Blow Out” and “Dressed to Kill” — are now classics, even misfires like “Snake Eyes” and “Passion” usually have some bravura cinematic showpieces that make them worth watching.

The best that “Domino” can boast are some general concepts for exciting set pieces. Moments like the...

Event will open with Joern Utkilen’s Norwegian debut feature Lake Over Fire.

The second edition of Oslo Pix (June 4-10) will open with Joern Utkilen’s Norwegian debut feature Lake Over Fire and close with Gustav Moller’s Danish festival hit The Guilty.

The festival has three competition programmes: Nordic fiction, Nordic documentary and international competition.

The international competition is comprised of: A Gentle Creature, Daughter of Mine, Disobedience, Faces Places, Golden Exits, Soldiers. Story From Ferentari, Summer 1993, The Tale and Aga.

The Nordic fiction competition includes: Amateurs, Jimmie, Lake Over Fire, Team Hurricane, The Real Estate, Thick Lashes of Lauri Mantyvaara,...