Inés, a Spanish artist, lives in India and stumbles upon Sultana's Dream a science fiction story written by Rokeya Hossain in 1905. It describes Ladyland, a utopia in which women rule the country while men live in seclusion and are responsible for household chores. Fascinated by the story Inés embarks on a journey across the country to search for the one place where women can live in peace.
Festivals
- Ottawa International Animation Festival, Canada;
- São Paulo International Film Festival, Brazil;
- Odessa International Film Festival, Ukraine;
Awards
- Annecy International Animated Film Festival, France, 2024;
- Hamburg Film Festival, Producers Award, Germany, 2023;
- Award for Best Basque Film at the San Sebastian International Film Festival, Spain, 2023;
- Feature Film Award at the World Animated Film Festival ANIMAFEST ZAGREB, Croatia, 2023;
- Best Film Award at the Leeds International Film Festival, United Kingdom, 2023;
- Quirino Prize for Ibero-American Animation 2024;
- Award at the Brussels Animated Film Festival – ANIMA – Brussels, Belgium, 2024;
Isabel Herguera
Isabel Herguera is a director for animation flm. After graduating in fne arts from the Universidad del País Vasco, she continued her studies at the Art Academy in Düsseldorf as a student of the video artist Nam June Paik. She concluded her education with a master’s degree from the California Institute of the Arts. From 1990 to 2003 she lived in Los Angeles, where she worked as an animator for Acme Filmworks, Klasky Szupo and for directors such as Maureen Selwood, Raimund Krumme and Sue Laughlin or Paul Vester. Isabel worked on music videos, among others All around the world by Oasis (1997) or Sting’s interactive CD-ROM All this Time (1996). In 1996, she founded Loko Pictures, an animation studio where she produced and directed work for clients such as Philip Morris, FOX, Proctor and Gamble and HBO. In 2003 she returned to Europe and was the Festival Director of Animac, the International Animated Film Festival of Catalonia, and coordinated the moving image laboratory at Arteleku in San Sebastian. During these years she made several short flms such as La gallina ciega (2005), Ámár (2010); Bajo la almohada (2012); Amore d’inverno (2014) Kutxa beltza (2016) and produced Berbaoc (2007) and Sailor’s Grave (2014). Today Isabel is a professor for experimental animation at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne and at the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad in India (since 2005) as well as a visiting professor at the China Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing (since 2012). Sultana’s Dream is Isabel’s frst full-length flm. Her artistic path is based on creating connections between Spain and the world and promoting collaboration between local and global actors.
Filmography
2023 – Henna Woman / La mujer Ilustrada– short, animation, 8’
2016 - Kutxa Beltza - short, animation, 7’
2016 - Sailor's Grave - short, animation, 6’
2015 – Winter Love / Amore d'inverno - short, animation, 5’
2012 - Under the pillow / Bajo la almohada - short, animation, drama, 9’
2010 – Love / Ámár - short, animation, drama, 8’
2005 – Blind Hen / La gallina ciega - short, animation, 7’
1996 – Safari - short, animation 4’
1994 – Liitle Dead / Los Muertitos - short, animation 11’
1987 - Spain Loves you - short, animation;
