Rescheduled from 3 September 2012

(Mauritania, 2002)

Set between the Sahara desert and the sea, Waiting for Happiness unravels a lush mosaic as the film follows the lives of several characters that intertwined in the coastal city of Nouadhibou in Mauritania, as they await travel to Europe. Caught between African ‘tradition’ and western ‘modernity,’ young Abdallah has come to Nouadhibou from Mali on a particular mission to visit his mother before leaving for Europe but finds himself both isolated as strange in a foreign land and in a liminal state, on the brink of a new life.

With its inclusion of non-professional actors and its poetic use of images, Waiting for Happiness relies less on a rigid narrative structure yet draws its audiences in with the lives of these compelling characters.

Running Time: 96 mins.