Los Sonidos de la Arena
Film Title (Original): Si le vent soulève les sables
Film Title (Spanish): Los Sonidos de la Arena
Country of Origin: Belgium/France
Year of Completition: 2006
Running Time: 96 minutes
Format/Color/BW: 35mm, Color
Language: French
Spanish Subtitles
 Directors: Marion Hänsel | Biographies | Watch Trailer
Film Synopsis - Short:
Water means life. For Rahne, one African villager and his family, the need for it means having to leave their home—risking mercenaries and the vicious desert sun—to
find some form of salvation. A tale of exodus, hope and fatality, Sounds of Sand is also a parable about determination and eternity that takes us in the footsteps of Shasha, a nomad child full of the joys of life, whose tenacity and strength will conquer her father’s love.
Film Synopsis - Long:
Water means life. For one African villager and his family, the need for it means having to leave their parched home—risking mercenaries and the vicious desert sun—to find some form of salvation. Their only hope is to head north over the black deserts to the white lands, where three deep wells await in an area full of land mines. The risk is daunting, but the alternative is worse. So, the daring few, including schoolteacher Rahne (Issaka Sawadogo), his wife Mouna (Carole Karemera Umulinga) and their three young children round up what little livestock they own and begin a trek without maps or guides, knowing the journey could very well end in death.
Sacrifice abounds in this austere drama that eschews simple sentiment to depict the family’s desperation and terrifying ordeal. The punishing heat and haunting Djibouti landscapes make traversing the desert an almost Herculean effort. Assaulted by the elements and the extremes of human brutality, Rahne soon finds himself fighting to preserve a family that begins to fall apart.
Based on the prize-winning novel “Chamelle” by Marc Durin-Valois, writer—producer-director Marion Hänsel’s Sounds of Sand is a meticulously crafted work. Music is sparingly used and admirably understated, and the actors, particularly Sawadogo, portray a calm stoicism that makes their plight all the more heartrending. But Sounds of Sand is also a parable about determination and eternity that takes us in the footsteps of Shasha, a nomad child full of the joys of life, whose tenacity and strength will conquer her father’s love.
Film Credits
Director: Marion Hänsel
Producer: Marion Hänsel
Screensaver: Marion Hänsel
Cinematographer: Walter Vanden Ende
Editing: Michèle Hubinon
Music: René-Marc Bini
Cast: Issaka Sawadogo, Carole Karemera, Asma Nouman Aden,
Saïd Abdallah Mohamed, Ahmed Ibrahim Mohamed
Film History/Prizes:
C.I.C.A.E. Award - Special Mention, nominated for the Golden Seashell - San Sebastián International Film Festival
Grand Prize – Ouidah Festival (Benin)
Public Prize - Leuven African Film Festival
Prize for “Best Actor" for Issaka Sawadogo - Cape Town Film Festival
Best Feature Film - Paris Environment Film Festival
Grand Prize - Cuenca Festival |
