Sultana's Dream

In Sultana’s Dream, director Isabel Herguera brings one of the earliest works of feminist science fiction to life in a bold and visually striking animated feature. Inspired by Begum Rokeya’s 1905 tale of a peaceful, women-led utopia called Ladyland, the film follows Inés, a Spanish artist who travels to India and becomes captivated by this visionary world — and the real woman who imagined it. Moved and unsettled by the story’s radical vision, Inés begins to examine her own relationship to feminism, history, and identity.

As she journeys across India, Inés’s path begins to blur with that of Rokeya herself, conjuring surreal and poetic encounters with real-life archives, suppressed histories, and imagined futures. Shifting animation styles — from watercolor to shadow puppetry to mehndi — reflect the film’s exploration of cultural exchange, gender roles, and the power of imagination as resistance.

Sultana’s Dream is a poetic, political, and visually dazzling celebration of feminist thought across time. At once a tribute to a forgotten pioneer and a rallying cry for new ways of seeing, it offers a powerful reminder: to imagine another world is the first step toward building it.

directed by: Isabel Herguera
starring: Mary Beard, Miren Arrieta, Mireia Gabilondo, Maurizio Faraoni, Manu Khurana, Arunima Bhattacharya, Ranjitha Rajeevan, Paul B. Preciado
2023 / 76 min / 1.78:1 / English, Spanish, Hindi DTS-HD MA 2.0

Additional info:

• Region Free Blu-ray
• Director's and Writer's Commentary
• Making of Sultana's Dream
• Isabel Herguera Short Films:
  • La Gallina Ciega (2005)
  • Ámár (2010)
  • Bajo La Almohada (2012)
  • Amore d'Inverno (2015)
  • La Mujer Ilustrada (2023)
• Trailer
• English SDH, Spanish, Hindi, French, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese subtitles