‘Cinema keeps that memory alive’: Suzannah Mirghani on Cotton Queen and Sudanese cinema

Sudanese-Russian filmmaker Suzannah Mirghani’s debut feature Cotton Queen (2025) follows Nafisa, a teenage girl growing up in a cotton-farming village where stories of Sudan’s colonial past collide with the pressures of modern development, tradition and changing agricultural practices. The film draws on Mirghani’s own memories of growing up in Sudan, while exploring the country’s relationship with cotton, the experiences of women and the impact of colonialism and war.

The film was written, directed and produced by Mirghani, whose previous work includes the award-winning short film Al-Sit (2020). Cotton Queen premiered at Venice Film Festival Critics’ Week in 2025 after winning the 2022 ArteKino Award at L’Atelier de la Cinéfondation at the Cannes Film Festival. It has since received 10 awards at international festivals, including the Grand Prix for Fiction at the Geneva International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights and Best Feature Film at the Rotterdam Arab Film Festival.

Mirghani spoke to Radio Dabanga about the personal memories behind Cotton Queen, the history embedded in Sudan’s cotton industry, the use of magical realism, and the challenges of recreating Sudan in Egypt after the outbreak of war.

“Cotton connects so many themes.”

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Q&A with Suzannah Mirghani

Radio Dabanga: What did this film mean to you personally, and why did you choose cotton as the central thread through which to explore those ideas?

Suzannah Mirghani: The various vignettes in Cotton Queen are sourced from my memories of living in Sudan over a period of 10 years, from childhood to adolescence. I grew up in a hosh (garden) in Omdurman, where the women in my family, my grandmother, mother and sisters, were central figures in my life and where storytelling was an everyday activity.

The film is influenced by the many mysteries and legends that extended across the neighbourhood as well as further afield in the Gezira region, where we would visit relatives, the river and the cotton fields. I often think back on my time in Sudan with great nostalgia.

As an adult, however, as I began reading about the history of cotton in Sudan, grown in the very same places where I used to play, the romance unravelled. I began learning about the British colonial history of violence as well as the more recent introduction of genetically modified seeds, changing the face of the industry and the community’s relationship to the crop.

The story of Cotton Queen connects important themes in Sudanese history and contemporary moments. Cotton has been both a blessing and curse, requiring tenderness and care from those who harvest it and attracting aggression and exploitation by those who seek to dominate it.

I found cotton to be a perfect central subject for a story about Sudan. Cotton connects so many themes: the colonial history of Sudan, historical and contemporary industrial extraction and, most importantly, themes surrounding the community of women who have a very close relationship with cotton. They are the ones who harvest it, spin it, weave it and use it for their intimate bodily needs. 

The story of cotton binds all these themes together. When I was doing my research for the film, I came across the annual “Cotton Queen” beauty pageant, which was instituted initially in the 1930s in England, awarding a prize to the most beautiful girl working in the cotton industry during Sudan’s British colonial period. I knew immediately that Cotton Queen would be the title of my film.

It is the nexus of patriarchy, colonialism and industry, and how all these forces are joined in the exploitation of women. In this film, I transform the concept of the Cotton Queen into one that is more reflective of a Sudanese girl awakening to her sense of self, beyond beauty and marriage, to have a real impact on her community.

Radio Dabanga: You’ve spoken about wanting to keep the film as authentic as possible, and you can definitely feel that in the film. At the same time, the themes of magic and mysticism create an interesting interplay with that realism and the main character’s life experience. How did you approach those elements?

Suzannah Mirghani: This film reflects two sides of my relationship to Sudan: one is as a child and the other is as an adult.

I remember Sudan very fondly and have a great nostalgia for a country filled with fairytales, folklore, magic and mysticism. As an adult, however, I know this can be a naïve perspective that does not tell the full story of life in Sudan, which is also governed by a very harsh reality.

In the film, Sudan is represented as a place where opposites exist simultaneously. It is both mythical and material; it is both beautiful and painful.

The magical realist elements in my film are about imagining a new Sudan, a bittersweet dream, full of both nostalgia for something that never was, and hope for what can be.

“Sudan is represented as a place where opposites exist simultaneously. It is both mythical and material; it is both beautiful and painful.”

Radio Dabanga: The film is poignant. Even the moments that make you laugh are underpinned by something more serious. You also touch on issues including FGM and Sudan’s colonial history. Why was it important for you to explore these subjects through the film?

Suzannah Mirghani: I did not set out to make a film about important issues. Many of these themes began to appear naturally as part of the story in the process of writing.

I found that it was impossible to speak of cotton without remembering the British colonial history. I also found that in telling a coming-of-age story of a teenage girl, it was impossible not to explore issues related to the body, whether this was natural hormonal changes or bodily violence through tradition.

There are so many hidden traumas in Sudan, both historical and contemporary, that are sublimated and normalised in everyday life. In the film, I try to capture some of these profound and mundane moments simultaneously.

Radio Dabanga: You filmed the movie in Egypt rather than Sudan because of the war. What was it like working with actors and crew members who were living as refugees, and how did that experience shape the production?

Suzannah Mirghani: Because of the war, many of the Sudanese cast and crew members were doubly displaced, first internally in Sudan, travelling from city to city seeking safety, and then externally, travelling to Egypt by any means.

We waited patiently for the war to end so we could return to Sudan to resume lives and to continue work. Two years into the war, the conflict was still raging. We decided that it was time to take the film to the Sudanese cast and crew in Egypt, and to shoot the film there.

We made sure to build the main sets, the houses and streets, by copying the architectural specifications of the original locations in Sudan. While all the Sudanese cast and crew members contributed advice or props to enhance the look and feel of the Sudanese set, the whole process was supervised by Simba Elmur, the costume designer who became the chief Sudanese cultural consultant.

To give us the freedom to build, and to get away from the noise of Cairo, we built our main sets on open farmland on the outskirts of the city.

Some of the sets were so real and so familiar, we often forgot that we were in Egypt. We really thought that we were in Sudan.

Whenever we had a large group of Sudanese extras on set, they were in awe of the Sudanese village we created and relaxed in the space, chatting and singing, as though we were in Sudan. There was an extraordinary sense of community among the Sudanese on set.

Of course, that meant that we were heartbroken to leave this imaginary Sudan every day after shooting. Building sets was easy. The most difficult part of the shoot was the emotional toll of the war.

While the production of the film was affected by practical challenges as well as the emotional disappointment of not shooting in Sudan, by making this film together, we all felt that we could achieve something, that we could create something out of nothing, bringing both dignity and hope to those displaced.

Even though we were all sad the film was not shot in our home country, recreating Sudan in Egypt gave the Sudanese cast and crew a sense of empowerment. We were able to do something positive for Sudan and honour the culture in a foreign country.

“Building sets was easy. The most difficult part of the shoot was the emotional toll of the war.”

Radio Dabanga: The film has received a lot of praise and awards. What does that recognition mean for you, and what do you think it says about the future of Sudanese film?

Suzannah Mirghani: I am proud and honoured to have made this film with a Sudanese cast and crew who never gave up, and who managed to complete this film against so many odds: war, displacement, destruction of property, loss of livelihoods and the death of family members.

For all of us, making this film was so much more than just making a film. It became a mission. It was a calling to create something for Sudan.

As parts of the country were being destroyed, we were building. Sudanese cinema has always been about resilience and filmmakers produce their work regardless of the many restrictions and obstacles.

As Sudan is destroyed by war, there is a very real threat to the erasure of cultural memory. Cinema keeps that memory alive.

From the audience side, we have seen a growing culture of appreciation. Screening Sudanese films has shown how interested Sudanese audiences are to see representation of themselves and the country on screen.

Radio Dabanga: Given the state of Sudan now, four years into the war, what do you see as the practical steps needed to rebuild and strengthen the industry? And how can people support young and emerging artists?

Suzannah Mirghani: Growing a film industry and sustaining an entire creative ecosystem has to be supported financially and institutionally for its long-term stability.

These kinds of provisions and encouragements have always been lacking in Sudan, and especially in the current moment. With the war still ongoing and threatening the country’s stability, it’s difficult to sustain most sectors, let alone a creative industry.

This situation, however, does not stop individual Sudanese filmmakers from continuing to work and to make their films in Sudan and elsewhere.

The more individual Sudanese films continue to be produced, and the more they capture the public’s imagination, gaining awards and headlines, the more support future Sudanese filmmakers are likely to get from regional or international funding institutions.

We all try to do our part in whatever small way we can. For instance, I run an online scriptwriting workshop called Aflam Banat, which helps Sudanese women shape their stories and prepare them for the next step of realising their work.

I’ve seen the determination some of these writers have to produce their films, starting on a very small scale. I am encouraged to see many more young Sudanese filmmakers behind the camera.

Many young up-and-coming filmmakers have an intense desire to tell their own stories. Mihad Murtada, the lead actress in Cotton Queen, has already started working on sets, film and commercials, to gain experience behind the scenes of a production. She’s also writing her own short scripts, which she hopes to develop and produce.

There is so much creative potential. Young Sudanese filmmakers just need a degree of guidance, support and, of course, funding.

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Where to watch Cotton Queen

Cotton Queen is receiving a UK and Ireland cinema release this October, with screenings supported by the BFI through funds from the National Lottery.

UK and Ireland cinema release information and screening details are available through: Tape Collective.