Suzannah Mirghani 2: Cotton Queen
Suzannah Mirghani (b. 1978, Sudan) is one of the distinctive emerging voices in contemporary cinema, known for her visually striking and deeply personal stories about identity, culture, and the pressures of globalization. The Qatar-based filmmaker has gained particular recognition for her short film Al-Sit (2020), which has received international acclaim for its poetic expression and precise exploration of generational and political tensions. Mirghani’s work blends social observation with a subtle, almost mythic sensibility that grants her characters a rich and complex inner life.
Her first feature film, Cotton Queen (2025), premiered at the Venice Film Festival and builds on the themes of Al-Sit, expanding them onto a broader historical canvas. The film examines social control, personal freedom, and female self-determination in a setting shaped by tradition and economic power structures. With its refined visual language and ability to portray both intimacy and systemic conflict, Cotton Queen positions Mirghani as one of the defining auteurs of the global south, and her films continue to open space for new perspectives in world cinema.
The screening of Cotton Queen is a cooperation with Kosmorama Trondheim International Film Festival.
In addition to the screenings, you can meet Suzannah Mirghani in a masterclass Thursday, presented in collaboration with the Short Film Convention.
Programme
In a cotton-farming village in Sudan, teenage Nafisa finds herself torn between tradition and change. When a businessman arrives with genetically modified cotton and a marriage proposal, she becomes the centre of a struggle for her village’s future. As her grandmother, Al-Sit, clings to old hierarchies, Nafisa begins to awaken to her own power. A tender and politically charged coming-of-age tale about women’s resilience, self-determination, and the fight to shape their destiny.