Life is Waiting: Referendum and Resistance in Western Sahara

ANU Film Group Screening – Life is Waiting

On Tuesday 25th October 2022 from 6.30 – 9.00pm

at ANU Kambri Cultural Centre, Kambri Precint, University Avenue, Canberra.

Film: 7.30pm, Life is Waiting: Referendum and Resistance in Western Sahara, by Iara Lee.

Location: Kambri Cultural Centre (ANU Building 153) Tangney Road Acton, ACT 2601 View map

The film, Life is Waiting, is an award-winning film looks at 47 years of Moroccan occupation, the struggle of the Saharawi for self-determination and their wait for the referendum promised by the United Nations in 1991; this referendum has never taken place. The film highlights the voices and perspectives of Saharawi youth, rappers and creatives, giving us insight into their visions and hopes in a powerful and compelling way.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion.  Panellists will examine  developments since the film was made in 2015, the nature of Saharawi resistance and why, for generations of Saharawi, colonialism has never ended. We will be joined by:

Mr Kamal Fadel, Western Sahara Representative to Australia and roving Ambassador to the South Pacific.

Professor Matt Qvortrup, Matt Qvortrup is Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Coventry University. Editor-in-Chief of the Q1 journal European Political Science Review, and he is editor of the DeGruyter Series, Democracy in Times of Upheaval expert on referendums, secessionist movements and the creation of states. His forthcoming book is called I Want to Break Free: a practical guide to making a new country (Manchester University Press, 2022) 

Associate Professor Ntina Tvouvala, whose work focuses on political economy, history and theory of international law, and whose book Capitalism as Civilisation: A History of International Law (Cambridge University Press, 2020) has received several awards. 

Moderator: Lyn Allison, President of the Australia Western Sahara Association.

RSVP by 20 October 2022 to polisario@optusnet.com.au and through Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/426978322657