This Refugee Week, Counterpoints Arts are partnering with Sandblast to screen Haiyu – Rebel Singer Mariem Hassan and the Struggle for a Free Western Sahara. A documentary intertwining the life narrative of Mariem Hassan with her relentless quest for Western Sahara’s liberation.
In the Sahara desert, the voice of one of North Africa’s greatest singers still echoes. A voice that has engaged and given hope to a forgotten struggle.
Mariem Hassan’s life and music have been deeply affected by the ongoing tragedy committed to the Sahrawis throughout the colonial era continuing up to this very day. Her songs have been given comfort and hope and have been used as a tool in the fight for independence in Africa’s last colony, Western Sahara.
This year marks 50 years since the Sahrawis people were forced into exile. Winner of the Sheffield Doc Fest Youth Jury Prize, Haiyu will be followed up by a Q&A with Sam Berkson, authoer of Settled Wanderers: The Poetry of a Landless People and Danielle Smith, founder of Sandblast, an organisation dedicated to building awareness and solidarity for the indigenous Saharawis of Western Sahara.
Book tickets here.