Heremakono

Drama, Mauretania/France 2002, 96 min, Hassaniya and Arabic with German subtitles

One of “the most impressive films from Africa: a poem about the desert, about waiting, about space and time.“ (Walter Ruggle, Trigon-film). The 17-year-old Abdallah, like many others, arrives in the port of Nouadhibou on the coast of Mauretania – a place of transit. Before his longed-for departure for Europe, he visits his mother one more time. He keeps his distance from the others. Gradually, though, he opens up: to the optimistic orphan boy Khatra, to an aging electrician and to the soft-spoken Nana. In his story of leaving and staying, Sissako portrays human beings with great empathy and subtle humor. The images of the Mauretanian desert lend this light, gliding narrative a hallucinatory backdrop. Grand Prix at the Ouagadougou Festival, International Federation of Film Critics Award in Cannes.