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The major African film of the decade. Set in a Mauritanian coastal town that functions as a transit point, filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako's Waiting for Happiness is a poignant and poetic reflection on themes of exile, travel, home and displacement. Nouadhibou is a windblown village of mainly temporary housing, which most people merely pass through. The outside world enters with 17 year-old Abdallah, visiting his mother before leaving for Europe. Unconnected and unable to speak the local language, he becomes a mute observer of life in the village. This gentle drama casts a cumulative spell as its simple, beautifully composed images wash over the viewer, just like the songs and the sounds of wind and sea. Winner of FIPRESCI award, Un Certain Regard, at 2002's Cannes Film Festival and screened at MIFF the same year.
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D/S Abderrahmane Sissako P Nicolas Royer, Maji-da Abdi WS Celluloid Dreams L French w/English subtitles TD 35mm/2002/95mins