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COTTON QUEEN wins Jury Prize for Best Film at Luxor African Film Festival
05 April 2026
Marking yet another milestone on its acclaimed international journey, Suzannah Mirghani’s debut feature COTTON QUEEN has been awarded the Jury Prize for Best Film at the 15th Luxor African Film Festival (LAFF), held in Luxor, Egypt from March 29th to April 4th.
Following its world premiere at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, the film went on to screen at more than a dozen prestigious festivals worldwide, winning awards, including the Golden Alexander ‘Theo Angelopoulos’ Award for Best Feature Film at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival in Greece, the TV5 Monde Award for Best First Feature Film at the Carthage Film Festival in Tunisia, the Audience Award at the Doha Film Festival in Qatar, and the Grand Award at the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights in Geneva.
Set in a cotton-farming village in Sudan, COTTON QUEEN follows teenage Nafisa, who is raised on heroic tales of resistance against British colonizers, told by her grandmother, the village matriarch Al-Sit. When a young businessman arrives from abroad with a development plan and genetically engineered cotton, Nafisa finds herself at the center of a power struggle over the future of her community. As she awakens to her own strength, she sets out to protect the cotton fields — and herself. Neither she nor her village will ever be the same again.
Starring Mihad Murtada as Nafisa, alongside Rabha Mohamed Mahmoud, Talaat Fareed, and Haram Bisheer, the film is a co-production involving Germany’s Strange Bird GmbH, Jip Film and Verleih, and Storming Donkey Productions; France’s Maneki Films; Palestine’s Philistine Films; Egypt’s Film Clinic and MAD Solutions; Qatar; and Saudi Arabia.
It is written and directed by Mirghani; lensed by the prolific DOP behind this year’s Cannes Un Certain Regard opener PROMISED SKY Frida Marzouk; scored by Amine Bouhafa, the composer behind Cannes contenders AISHA CAN’T FLY AWAY and ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA; and edited by Amparo Mejías, Simon Blasi, Frank Müller.
It’s also produced by Caroline Daube, Didar Domehri, and co-produced by Annemarie Jacir, Ossama Bawardi, Jessica Khoury, Mohamed Hefzy, Alaa Karkouti, Maher Diab, and stars Mihad Murtada, Rabha Mohamed Mahmoud, Talaat Fareed, Haram Bisheer, Mohamed Musa, and Hassan Mohi El Din.
Suzannah Mirghani is a Russian Sudanese filmmaker. Her short film AL-SIT (2020), screening on Netflix Middle East, won the Canal+ Award at Clermont-Ferrand in 2021, among other international prizes. Her recent shorts include VIRTUAL VOICE (2021, Tribeca Film Festival) and KAMALA IBRAHIM ISHAG: STATES OF ONENESS (2022), commissioned by Serpentine Galleries. COTTON QUEEN (2025) won the ArteKino Award at L’Atelier de la Cinéfondation at Cannes Film Festival in 2022, and is Suzannah’s debut feature film.
Following its world premiere at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, the film went on to screen at more than a dozen prestigious festivals worldwide, winning awards, including the Golden Alexander ‘Theo Angelopoulos’ Award for Best Feature Film at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival in Greece, the TV5 Monde Award for Best First Feature Film at the Carthage Film Festival in Tunisia, the Audience Award at the Doha Film Festival in Qatar, and the Grand Award at the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights in Geneva.
Set in a cotton-farming village in Sudan, COTTON QUEEN follows teenage Nafisa, who is raised on heroic tales of resistance against British colonizers, told by her grandmother, the village matriarch Al-Sit. When a young businessman arrives from abroad with a development plan and genetically engineered cotton, Nafisa finds herself at the center of a power struggle over the future of her community. As she awakens to her own strength, she sets out to protect the cotton fields — and herself. Neither she nor her village will ever be the same again.
Starring Mihad Murtada as Nafisa, alongside Rabha Mohamed Mahmoud, Talaat Fareed, and Haram Bisheer, the film is a co-production involving Germany’s Strange Bird GmbH, Jip Film and Verleih, and Storming Donkey Productions; France’s Maneki Films; Palestine’s Philistine Films; Egypt’s Film Clinic and MAD Solutions; Qatar; and Saudi Arabia.
It is written and directed by Mirghani; lensed by the prolific DOP behind this year’s Cannes Un Certain Regard opener PROMISED SKY Frida Marzouk; scored by Amine Bouhafa, the composer behind Cannes contenders AISHA CAN’T FLY AWAY and ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA; and edited by Amparo Mejías, Simon Blasi, Frank Müller.
It’s also produced by Caroline Daube, Didar Domehri, and co-produced by Annemarie Jacir, Ossama Bawardi, Jessica Khoury, Mohamed Hefzy, Alaa Karkouti, Maher Diab, and stars Mihad Murtada, Rabha Mohamed Mahmoud, Talaat Fareed, Haram Bisheer, Mohamed Musa, and Hassan Mohi El Din.
Suzannah Mirghani is a Russian Sudanese filmmaker. Her short film AL-SIT (2020), screening on Netflix Middle East, won the Canal+ Award at Clermont-Ferrand in 2021, among other international prizes. Her recent shorts include VIRTUAL VOICE (2021, Tribeca Film Festival) and KAMALA IBRAHIM ISHAG: STATES OF ONENESS (2022), commissioned by Serpentine Galleries. COTTON QUEEN (2025) won the ArteKino Award at L’Atelier de la Cinéfondation at Cannes Film Festival in 2022, and is Suzannah’s debut feature film.
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