Sultana's Dream (film)

Sultana's Dream (El sueño de la sultana) is a 2023 animated film directed by Isabel Herguera based in part on the 1905 short story of the same name by Rokeya Hossain.

Premise
Inés, a Spanish artist living in India, travels throughout the country learning about the life of author Rokeya Hossain and the utopian Ladyland she described in her 1905 short story Sultana's Dream.

Cast

 * Mary Beard
 * Miren Arrieta
 * Mireia Gabilondo
 * Maurizio Faraoni
 * Manu Khurana
 * Arunima Bhattacharya
 * Ranjitha Rajeevan
 * Paul B. Preciado

Production
In 2012, Herguera launched a crowdfunded workshop series in India focused on Sultana's Dream by Rokeya Hossain. The director later received a screenwriting grant from the Basque government to develop a film based on Hossain's work.

Each of the film's three parts was created using a different animation technique. Portions of the narrative centered on Inés are animated with ink and watercolor, shadow puppets tell the story of Rokeya Hossain, and the fictional Ladyland is animated using mendhi.

Release
Sultana's Dream screened as a work-in-progress at the 2023 Annecy International Animation Film Festival. The completed film premiered on 24 September 2023 at the San Sebastián International Film Festival, where it was awarded the Basque Film Award and the award for the Best Basque Screenplay. The film was released nationwide in Spain on 17 November.

Box office
Sultana's Dream grossed $7,867 during the film's theatrical release in Spain.