Drops in the desert

Drops in the desert

Share

Drops in the desert

2005

0h 30m

0.0(0 votes)

Documentary

Overview

A documentary which explains, through the experience of hosting a Sahrawi child for the summer, visiting the camps and speaking with teachers, politicians and doctors… the story of the Sahrawi people and the reasons behind the conflict. People from diverse geographical locations in Spain give us their opinion about the conflict.

Links & Resources

Social & External

Similar Movies

Sahara Marathon

Sahara Marathon

This film offers a picture of the tense situation in which the Sahrawi people have lived for more than 30 years. The yearly celebration of a marathon in the Sahrawi refugee camps serves as the central focus of the story.

Hamada

Hamada

Filled with vitality, humor and unexpected situations, Hamada paints an unusual portrait of a group of young friends living in a refugee camp in the middle of nowhere. Western Sahara is known as “the last colony in Africa” and this conflict is the longest and one of the least known ongoing disputes in the continent, but the Sahrawi people refuse to become invisible.

Smiles of the desert

Smiles of the desert

Sahrawi children move to Basque country in summer thanks to the solidarity project Vacations in Peace. In the first part of the documentary, we see how they live, what they discover, what they learn and how these children enjoy themselves during their stay. The second part of the documentary takes place in the refugee camps in the desert which have held refugees for more than 30 years. We see their day-to-day life and, in passing, the reasons for the conflict and the Sahrawi struggle.

Western Sahara, a nation that wants to exist

Western Sahara, a nation that wants to exist

The documentary gives as overview of the history of the Sahrawi people and their current situation in the refugee camps and in the liberated territories of Western Sahara. It describes how water, education, land etc. are managed.

Ali Salem, architect of resistance

Ali Salem, architect of resistance

Ali Salem Hamudi Mohamed - Yahdih, was born in 1955 in El Aaiún (Western Sahara). He completed his secondary schooling in the "Spanish" Sahara. A scholarship allowed him to enrol at the Universidad de la Peninsula in 1975, but Morocco's invasion of the Sahara led him to return to the city of his birth and go into exile with his people, participating in the resistance and helping to organise the Tindouf Refugee Camps (Algeria). In 1980, the Polisario Front and the Government of Cuba offered him the opportunity to study Architecture at the University of Havana. On his return to the Camps in 1985 he worked for the SADR's Department of Construction. He designed more than twenty public buildings, including town halls, schools and nursery schools, and also collaborated with international aid organisations to build hospitals and training colleges. All of these buildings were built collectively by the Saharan people. ;In 1999 he emigrated to Spain. His family joined him five years later.

Un viaje hacia nosotros

Un viaje hacia nosotros

Spanish actor Pepe Viyuela embarks on a personal journey on the trail of his grandfather Gervasio, a soldier in the Republican Army during the Spanish Civil War.

Waiting for the UN

Waiting for the UN

Waiting for the UN is a poetic documentary about life in the desert, literally and figuratively. We follow the everyday life of a Saharawi family from occupied Western Sahara, who have lived ”temporary” in a refugee camp in Algeria for over 40 years. Waiting for God and the UN, as the father puts it.

Atil

Atil

Atil, a documentary on the life of the Saharawis in the Tindouf refugee camps in Algeria. In the camps there are no limits, since creativity and innovation give rise to ideas that succeed in changing the world. As a result, this documentary presents five young Saharawis who show day by day that anything is possible, despite the difficulties. They are all examples of perseverance. Discover a place where hope is never lost.

Crisis

Crisis

In the middle of Western Sahara desert, where no water, no trees, no animals live but a bunch of refugees, struggling in poverty to survive the harsh habitat, the least of the problem one might face is the environmental crisis.

Goulili, tell me, my sister

Goulili, tell me, my sister

The Sahrawi women relate their exil, the tortures, their memories and the difficulties of life as refugees. They are beautiful, touching... Educated by the Polisario Front and attached to the values of islam, they are widows, divorcede or married to fighting men. Owing to the force of circumstances, they have built a society of independant muslim women...

Children in exile: Sahrawi, refugees children of refugees

Children in exile: Sahrawi, refugees children of refugees

Refugees in Algeria since 1975, the Saharawi have had to forge another life path, fighting to return home. Their children, a generation born in exile to parents born in exile, tell the story and struggle of their people, the Saharawi, through their dreams, hopes, and strength.

Laatash

Laatash

The Saharawi women face the thirst of the hamada, the curse of the desert, every day. They’ve built their refuge in a land where no one could survive before. For more than forty years they’ve been holding out and taking care of their people there. They ensure every drop of water is distributed according to the needs of each family … and they wait. But there’s an even more terrible thirst in their throats, for which they find no relief.

The hidden fire

The hidden fire

Silence always surrounds the mine, first when it explodes and then when it eternally haunts its victims. The history of the silence of this fire hidden by Morocco in the sand of Western Sahara has left more than 4,000 victims in what is considered the largest minefield in the world. Daha and Fatimetu suffered the effect of the silence of the mines, their lives changed forever, like that of the Saharawi people who, after 14 years cleaning the desert of artifacts, the rupture of the ceasefire have left the future of the contamination of their territory.

Daughters of sand

Daughters of sand

Benda, a young Sahrawi woman in the diaspora wonders about the future of her people's children and women. We accompany her on an emotional journey to the refugee camps to see the more human face of the conflict. The film leaves the political as a mere context to focus on the dreams and drama of a people determined in their struggle to return home.

Champs-Elysées

Champs-Elysées

A boy has a dream of traveling to the world, especially to Paris where his uncle lives, but a wall built on his land divides his country and does not allow him to travel or cross to the other side of his land.

A garden that means more than a garden

Taleb, who came to a refugee camp at the age of five in 1975 and returned there after his studies abroad, tells of his life as a displaced person, his gratitude for the reception and support in Algeria, and his hope that the Sahrawis may one day return to their homeland. For Taleb, this hope drives him to actively prepare for better times: as a graduate in agricultural sciences, he conceived a successful small-scale closed-loop economy in a desert under the most difficult conditions, producing enough food for self-sufficiency.

The nomad garden

The nomad garden

The Nomad Garden is an ode to the impossible. A young Sahrawi refugee shows how he grows organic vegetables and herbs in one of the most inhospitable places on Earth, overcoming challenges like the lack of water, extreme temperatures and a barren soil.

Desert strawberries

Sahrawi artist and visual poet Mohamed Sleiman Labat follows the story of the emerging phenomenon of small scale family gardens in his local community in the Hamada Desert. The film features the story of four families in Samara Camp with small scale gardens, their practices and the knowledge they develop as part of their practices in the garden. The camps are located in a very harsh environment with extreme climate conditions, and the Sahrawi are still dependent on international food aid.

Sahrawi women, pillars of life Hunna Raquizat Alhayat

Sahrawi women, pillars of life Hunna Raquizat Alhayat

Médicos del Mundo Sahara presents the "Hunna Raquizat Alhayat" campaign that tells the stories of 17 Saharawi refugee women with different specialties and responsibilities within the field of health. This campaign arises from the need to value their work and raise awareness around all the challenges they face in their day to day, with the aim of contributing to the construction of a fairer society for all people. Saharawi women have been and continue to be the ones who sustain the population or, in other words, they are the pillar of life.

Lejsara, a history between two worlds

Lejsara, a history between two worlds

Lejsara is a documentary about two worlds: Tinduf and Mallorca. The main character, Lejsara, is twelve years old and, thanks to the ‘Holidays in Peace’ project, she’s going to spend her third and last summer in Spain with her host family. The film asks whether this program lets their children taste a piece of candy and then takes it away from them.

Recommended Movies

Fuck

Fuck

A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.

Night Will Fall

Night Will Fall

When Allied forces liberated the Nazi concentration camps in 1944-45, their terrible discoveries were recorded by army and newsreel cameramen, revealing for the first time the full horror of what had happened. Making use of British, Soviet and American footage, the Ministry of Information’s Sidney Bernstein (later founder of Granada Television) aimed to create a documentary that would provide lasting, undeniable evidence of the Nazis’ unspeakable crimes. He commissioned a wealth of British talent, including editor Stewart McAllister, writer and future cabinet minister Richard Crossman – and, as treatment advisor, his friend Alfred Hitchcock. Yet, despite initial support from the British and US Governments, the film was shelved, and only now, 70 years on, has it been restored and completed by Imperial War Museums under its original title "German Concentration Camps Factual Survey".

Sidney

Sidney

This revealing documentary honors the legendary Sidney Poitier—iconic actor, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. Featuring interviews with Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Halle Berry, and more.

The Class of ‘92

The Class of ‘92

A detailing of the rise to prominence and global sporting superstardom of six supremely talented young Manchester United football players (David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Phil and Gary Neville). The film covers the period 1992-1999, culminating in Manchester United's European Cup triumph.

Naqoyqatsi

Naqoyqatsi

A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.

Champs

Champs

A documentary about the sport of boxing, as seen through the eyes of champions Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Bernard Hopkins.

Anna Nicole Smith: You Don't Know Me

Anna Nicole Smith: You Don't Know Me

From the heights of her modeling fame to her tragic death, this documentary reveals Anna Nicole Smith through the eyes of the people closest to her.

My Mom Jayne

My Mom Jayne

Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.

Human Flow

Human Flow

More than 65 million people around the world have been forced from their homes to escape famine, climate change and war, the greatest displacement since World War II. Filmmaker Ai Weiwei examines the staggering scale of the refugee crisis and its profoundly personal human impact. Over the course of one year in 23 countries, Weiwei follows a chain of urgent human stories that stretch across the globe, including Afghanistan, France, Greece, Germany and Iraq.

Love, Marilyn

Love, Marilyn

Using the book 'Fragments', which collects Marilyn Monroe's poems, notes and letters, and with participation from the Arthur Miller and Truman Capote estates who have contributed more material, each of the actresses will embody the legend at various stages in her life.

Halloween: 25 Years of Terror

Halloween: 25 Years of Terror

Follow the evolution of the 'Halloween' movies over the past twenty-five years. It examines why the films are so popular and revisits many of the original locations used in the films - seeing the effects on the local community. For the first time, cast, crew, critics and fans join together in the ultimate 'Halloween' retrospective.

The Cave

The Cave

Deep beneath the surface in the Syrian province of Ghouta, a group of female doctors have established an underground field hospital. Under the supervision of paediatrician Dr. Amani and her staff of doctors and nurses, hope is restored for some of the thousands of children and civilian victims of the ruthless Syrian civil war.

Girl Rising

Girl Rising

Nine filmmakers each profile a young girl from a different part of the world to weave a global tapestry of youth in the 21st century.

Avatar: Creating the World of Pandora

The Making-of James Cameron's Avatar. It shows interesting parts of the work on the set.

The Walking Dead: The Return

The Walking Dead: The Return

Stars of "The Walking Dead," Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira, walk down memory lane and visit iconic locations where pivotal moments between their characters, Rick and Michonne, were filmed.

Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown

Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown

A chronicle of the life, work and mind that created the Cthulhu mythos.

28 Up

28 Up

Just two years away from turning 30, participants in Michael Apted's documentary series are facing serious questions of identity and purpose, wondering whether they've found their place in the world.

Avatar: The Deep Dive - A Special Edition of 20/20

An inside look at one of the most anticipated movie sequels ever with James Cameron and cast.

Spider-Man: All Roads Lead to No Way Home

Spider-Man: All Roads Lead to No Way Home

JB Smoove and Martin Starr host a celebration of 20 years of "Spider-Man" movies, from the Sam Raimi trilogy to Marc Webb's movies and the trio from Jon Watts.

More Brains! A Return to the Living Dead

More Brains! A Return to the Living Dead

Retrospective documentary about the making of the horror cult classic "The Return of the Living Dead."