Sandblast’s Saharawi Films of Struggle and Self-Determination
A selection of curated media lists from our global community
words – sandblast
photography – danielle smith
location – london, uk
Saharawi culture, rooted in a nomadic desert life, blends West African, Sanhaja tribal and Arab influences. The Hassaniye language, spoken by the Saharawis, derives its name from the Beni Hassan Arabs who conquered the region in the 11th century.
Western Sahara was a Spanish colony for nearly a century before being annexed by Morocco in 1975, disrupting the decolonisation process and undermining Saharawi aspirations for independence.
Saharawi culture is rich in oral traditions, including poetry and storytelling, which express their struggle for independence and build a sense of nationhood. Celebrating these cultural expressions is vital to highlight their resistance against injustices faced under Moroccan occupation and in refugee camps, where nearly 200,000 Saharawis have been displaced for decades.
Sandblast is a London-based charity dedicated to raising awareness of the indigenous Saharawis of Western Sahara and advocating for their self-determination rights. Founded in 2005, our focus is on improving the lives of women and youth in Saharawi refugee camps in Algeria. Through the arts, we aim to share the Saharawi story of resilience – covering topics such as their history, life in refugee camps and the role of international solidarity.
Below is a selection of films that we feel best represent the Sahrawi struggle for self-determination, and the beauty of their unique culture.
01_‘Amaidan Salah: The Saharawi Marathon’ directed by Unai Garcia, 2020
A remarkable documentary about the situation of the Saharawi people in the refugee camps of Tindouf, told through the life and participation in the 2019 Sahara Marathon of the Saharawi athlete and political refugee Amaidan Salah. The entire film is made using only a cellphone.
02_‘Toufa’ directed by Brahim Chagaf, 2020
‘Toufa’ recreates the beginnings of the Sahrawi population’s arrival in the Hamada’s arid desert. This short film tells of the suffering of three generations of Saharan women who, through their effort and sacrifice, healed wounds of the war upon their arrival in the inhospitable territory of this part of southern Algeria.
03_‘One day in Smara’ directed by Fanny de la Chica, 2011
This film tells the story of one day in Smara, a refugee camp in the south of Algeria. Six characters and the Sahara feature to highlight the past, present and future of a population without land who are still waiting, still asking, that their plight be heard.
04_‘Bubisher: Art & Struggle’ directed by Itoitz Guerrero Barbarin, 2019
Art and culture as a fight against injustice and forgetfulness. In ‘Bubisher,’ the Saharawi people, through creative processes, claim their right to their own land from which they were expelled. A different look at the figure of the Saharawi refugee, who claims dignity and consideration.
05_‘Limbo: A Forgotten Promise’ directed by Antonio Rodrigo, 2020
It can be said that Western Sahara is in limbo: it is the largest territory on the planet still to be decolonised, currently under Moroccan occupation since 1975 and waiting endlessly for its self-determination. In this film we will learn about the history of the oppression and resistance of the Saharawi people – but also about the land’s beauty and richness by way of the visual poetry, the sounds that evoke the Sahara and the inter-generational story of the protagonists in this history.
06_‘Life is waiting: Referendum and Resistance in Western Sahara’ directed by Iara Lee, 2015
‘Life is waiting’ tells how today’s young generation is deploying creative, nonviolent resistance for the cause of self-determination. In doing so, they’ve had to persevere against a torrent of conflicting forces. While risking torture and disappearance at the hands of Moroccan authorities, they’re also pushing back against those who have lost patience with the international community and are ready to launch another guerrilla war.
07_‘Leyuad’ directed by Gonzalo Moure, Brahim Chagaf and Inés G. Aparicio, 2016
Liman Boisha, a Saharaui poet living in Madrid, feels that he has turned “dry of the Sahara,” and travels to western Sahara to regain inspiration for his verses. There, Hamida Abdullah tells him about the trip they made together with the Belgian philosopher Mohamed Salem and the poet and scholar Bonnana Busseid to Leyuad, in the heart of the Tiris – the ancestral Land of the Men of the Book, the genesis of the identity of the Saharawi people, a road shown to them by Badi Mohamed Salem, the greatest of living Saharawi poets. A long, hard trip but – with the plan they had of looking for inspiration and the source of poetry – one which proves to be emotive and poetic.
08_‘3 Stolen Cameras’ directed by Equipe media, Saharawi Voice, RåFILM, 2017
The members of video activist group Equipe Media fight to keep their cameras. They use them to document the Moroccan kingdoms’ violations of human rights in Africa’s last colony. No journalists are allowed to enter occupied Western Sahara. The only images that find their way out of the territory are the ones Equipe Media manages to film in secret, hiding on roof tops and risking severe consequences. They film peaceful demonstrations being attacked by police and military, alongside injuries and stories from victims of police brutality. This is a tale about breaking an absolute censorship with unique footage from an area where the Moroccan authorities have managed to implement a near total media blockade.
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