Life is Waiting: Referendum & Resistance in Western Sahara

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Life is Waiting: Referendum & Resistance in Western Sahara | Iara Lee | Western Sahara | 2015 | 59 mins

More than four decades after its people were promised freedom by departing Spanish rulers, the Western Sahara remains Africa’s last colony. While a UN-brokered ceasefire put an end to armed hostilities in the territory in 1991, the Sahrawi people have continued to live under the Moroccan armed forces’ oppressive occupation, and what peace exists in the area is fragile at best. Tens of thousands of Sahrawis have fled to neighboring Algeria, where over 125,000 refugees still live in camps that were intended to be temporary. In spite of these difficulties, a new movement, with youth at its centre, is rising to challenge human rights abuses and to demand the long-promised referendum on freedom. 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.

Awards

Best Documentary, Zimbabwe Internal Film Festival, 2015

Best Mid-Length Film, Tirana International Documentary Film Festival, 2015

Best Mid-Length Film, Pukañawi Festival Internacional de Cine de los Derechos Humanos de Bolivia, 2015

World Award of Merit, World Film Awards, 2015

Merit Award of Awareness, Awareness Film Festival, 2016

Grand Jury Award, Wexford Documentary Film Festival, 2016

Best Documentary Feature Film, Ciudad del Este Independent Film Festival, 2017

Best Full-Length Documentary Feature, Plateau Festival Internacional de Cinema, 2017