Nomadic Tribes of the Sahara

In this documentary, we will travel to the heart of Western Sahara, the last remaining unexplored region of the great African desert.
We will meet the nomads that inhabit this land, learn about their fascinating customs, their atavistic rites; the birthplace of an ancient empire. They are the ULAD EL MIZNA, the Children of the Cloud.

The immense desert which comprises the Western Sahara, almost 250,000 km in size, is one of the least-known, and most hostile regions in the world.

In 1976, exile began for the Sahrawi nation, which since then has been crowded into refugee camps in the barren hammada of TINDUF, in extreme living conditions and depending for their survival on international aid.
The unequal war between the FRENTE POLISARIO and Morocco in order to achieve freedom for their country has led to poverty, desolation and an unbearable cost in human lives.

In exile, the Sahrawi nation has, with the few available resources, managed to create a rudimentary but efficient system of administration. The population, some 170,000 people, has organised itself into WILAYAS and DARÍAS, assemblies of neighbours at which they discuss the problems of the community.

Mauritania is a country entirely of desert and with a fascinating history.
The terrifying canyons of the AMOJIAR ravine, its vertical walls, and the frequent landslides formed part of the dangers of the road which the ancient caravans had to negotiate in order to reach the mythical cities of the Gold Route. The lost cities of Mauritania. The mosque is the most important building in Chinguetti and perhaps in all of Mauritania. Every year, below its minaret, of dry-stone masonry and reconstructed several times, thousands of the Turab al Bidan faithful gathered to set out on the pilgrimage to Mecca.
For this reason, Chinguetti was considered the seventh holy city of Islam.