Lights, Camera, Sandstorms

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Clearly the films provide more than just entertainment, and this is key. Film is increasingly viewed as a development tool, not just for Saharawis, but for displaced people everywhere. In fact, refugees in Afghanistan, Macedonia, Kenya, and Tanzania are also enjoying a new relationship with film, thanks to FilmAid International, an aid group that has organized screenings in their camps.

 “Refugees often remain isolated in contained settlements with little connection to the outside world for years on end—the average stay in a refugee camp is now 17 years,” says James Brooke of FilmAid. “Film brings hope and information to fill the void.”

In some camps, film is used to put across messages—to promote health, peace, and human rights, or to warn against HIV/AIDS or gender violence. But Fisahara’s main focus is cultural exchange and exploration. Over the five days, debates and workshops run in tandem with exhibitions, parades, concerts, and camel races. All the artistic events are filmed and played to an audience at the end.

A workshop in which the Saharawi women explore modern dance forms out in the dunes is greeted by rapturous applause at the festival’s closing ceremony. The animation, produced in the children’s workshop, is another crowd puller. In the most popular classes, basic film production, adults learn to make documentaries on Saharawi life.

“I drove three hours from another camp because I want to learn camera, editing, and producing,” says Omar. “One day, maybe I can record what is my life, what is our suffering, what is happening to Saharawi people.”

Sandblast, a London-based organization, is working to provide longer-term cultural and artistic opportunities for the Saharawis, including month-long film and theater workshops, and artist exchange visits to Europe.

“When their experiences of exile are expressed through song, dance, theater, and art, it is more powerful than speech,” says Danielle Smith, who runs Sandblast. “This form of expression really is a need for them, not just a luxury.”

Reprinted from Developments(#42), a publication of the U.K. Department for International Development that aims to raise awareness of development issues; www.developments.org.uk.

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