(En attendant les hommes). The red-walled clay city of Oualata, on the far edge of the Mauritanian desert, provides the atmospheric setting of Katy Lena Ndiaye’s stereotype-shattering portrait of femininity and sexuality in the Sahara. Three independent women speak directly to the camera about their experiences as brides, wives, and divorcees, and about the often tricky relationship between men and women in a society seemingly dominated by tradition and masculine rule. “When they stop loving me, it’s time to go,” declares one. The women’s art—intricate designs etched onto the town’s walls and doors—lends a further flavor to this film’s fresh look at female empowerment and expression in one of Africa’s most remote, beautiful regions.

• Written by Ndiaye. Photographed by Herman Bertiau. (56 mins, In Hassania with English subtitles, Color, Beta SP)

Preceded by short:
Coffee Colored Children (Ngozi Onwurah, U.K., 1988). This autobiographical film by the director of Shoot the Messenger is a poignant, powerful portrait of two children of a white mother and an absent Nigerian father, the only black people in an all-white English community. (15 mins, Color/B&W, 16mm, From Women Make Movies)

• (Total running time: 71 mins)