Hérémakhonon

Nouadhibou is a jumping off point from West Africa to Europe and the Americas. Its inhabitants, many recently arrived or preparing to leave, all hope for a better future, a longing summed up by the title (translation: Waiting for Happiness). Abdallah comes to visit his mother before emigrating to Europe. Unable to speak the local dialect, he keeps to himself, observing the villagers from a distance, reading and watching French TV. The orphan boy, Khatra, apprentice and adoptive son to waits for and fears Maata's death, the moment when he'll be his own master. A Chinese immigrant gives voice to the feeling of permanent exile. But amid this rootlessness, strong traditions live on. [The book] embraces the rhythms of a patient people, while the dreamlike passage of time and windswept desert locale create an aura of comforting timelessness, broken only by an exploding lightbulb or a sudden death. Maybe, muses Sissako, Waiting is actually the happiness.-