Focus: Western Sahara

People talk about a "forgotten conflict" or "the last colony in Africa" when they talk about the Western Sahara, which is the focus of neue kino. Since 1975, most of Western Sahara has been occupied by Morocco, and most Saharawis live in refugee camps in Algeria. The Saharawis, represented by the Frente Polisario, demand to hold a referendum on independence promised in 1991. This program will show films about the history of the conflict, works by Saharawis (filmmaker Mohamed Sleiman Labat will be present), films about resilience in the refugee camps. "Mali Blues" is an additional documentary film from the country of the source of many musical inspirations. The neues kino has been a partner of the Culturescapes festival since 2010.