WAITING FOR HAPPINESS
synopsis
Nouadhibou is a small town attached to a peninsula on the Mauritanian coast. Abdallah joins his mother there while waiting for his departure for Europe. The young man doesn’t understand the language of this place of exile and fragile hopes and tries to decipher the world that surrounds him. There is Nana, a sensual young woman who wants to seduce him; Makan, who like him, dreams of Europe; Maata, once a fisherman and now an electrician, and his apprentice, Kahtra. He’s the one who teaches Abdallah the local language so that he can break out of the silence within which he is trapped. These people continually cross paths, their gazes fixed on distant horizons while waiting for a hypothetical happiness.
international title: | Waiting For Happiness |
original title: | En attendant le bonheur |
country: | France |
sales agent: | Celluloid Dreams |
year: | 2002 |
genre: | fiction |
directed by: | Abderrahmane Sissako |
film run: | 95' |
release date: | FR 15/01/2003, BE 22/01/2003 |
screenplay: | Abderrahmane Sissako |
cast: | Khatra Ould Abdel Kader, Maata Ould Mohamed Abeid, Ould Mohamed Mohamed Mahmoud, Nana Diakité, Fatimetou Mint Ahmeda, Makanfing Dabo, Nèma Mint Choueikh |
cinematography by: | Jacques Besse |
film editing: | Nadia Ben Rachid |
art director: | Joseph Kpobly, Laurent Cavero |
costumes designer: | Maji-da Abdi |
music: | Oumou Sangare |
producer: | Abderrahmane Sissako |
production: | Chinguitty Films, ARTE France Cinéma |
distributor: | Haut et Court |