The Malian city of Gao in western Africa has for decades been a peaceful haven for hopeful migrants.
On the edge of the Sahel desert lies the House of Migrants, a temporary home for thousands of people every year. The hopeful ones are on their  way to Europe alongside those whose luck ran out and who are now on their way back to their hometowns and families across Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin and beyond.
Documentarian Samassékou listens to two young girls and a middle-aged woman lying in a small room and exchanging dreams and stories. Elsewhere in the house, young men are watching wrestling on TV. Samassékou’s attentive camera frames the faces, the voices and their stories in a uniquely beautiful and humane film no longer solely about having a home. The atmosphere in the house itself expresses the melancholy of exile through calm, intimate and vulnerable images. All around the city, new and old wars are taking place in the endless desert.

SCREENING WITH IN-TENTS
Stephanie Nakashima and Scott Morris | 2021 | Canada | 11 min | English
In this brand new diaristic documentary we follow individuals who are experiencing homelessness in
Hamilton, Ontario and learn their experiences with systemic barriers to housing and health care in the
midst of a global pandemic.

Keywords: Freedom | Im/migration | Refugees | Trauma