143 SAHARA STREET
/143 rue du désert/
Director: Hassen Ferhani
Algeria, 2019
103 min
With ENG subtitles
Hassen Ferhani's quiet documentary about an off-the-grid café in the Sahara Desert is an intimate portrait of its proprietor and her guests — as well as the landscape, and Algeria.
The Sahara covers over four-fifths of Algeria. Somewhere in this vast expanse of desert, Malika lives alone, running her café with one table and a menu that offers an omelette and tea. Dwarfed by the sands that stretch out to the horizon and beset by harsh winds, Malika's outpost seems oddly placed, and decidedly lonely. Yet, as Hassen Ferhani's quiet, vérité documentary unfolds, it becomes clear that this locale is hardly thirsting for life. Malika's off-the-grid spot is a welcome rest stop for a variety of travellers, who come not just for the food but to share their stories. Religion, the economy, politics, family — Malika listens, interjects, and absorbs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AamI13UPt4I
Event is created with the support of the French Institute in Latvia.
Tickets: 4 EUR online or at the entrance. Special discount for students and seniors, one ticket price: 3 EUR.
