Between Us and the World

Youth from Laayoune revisit locations that may have appeared in 1950s archival footage, speaking of life, dreams, and utopia as they search for an uncertain upstream.

European archival footage from the 1950s documents the life of indigenous, nomadic Sahrawi children and youth in Western Sahara / Morocco. Seventy years later, local youth from Laayoune (El Aaiún) revisit locations that may have appeared in the footage. From ocean to desert to oasis, under trembling starlight, they share their thoughts on life, dreams, and utopia as they search for an uncertain upstream.