Short film on Western Sahara at Arab Film Festival in Oran

Western Sahara issue was on the programme of the short film competition at the eighth International Arab Film Festival (FIOFA), in Oran (432-km west of Algiers), through "Rissala ila Obama" (A Letter to Obama), screened Monday at Ouarsenis movie theatre.

The film, by Algerian filmmaker Mohamed M'hamedi, tells the story of a father (Mebarek Hocine) who dares to write a letter to US President Barack Obama to draw his attention to the life of a Saharawi family in a refugee camps in Tindouf.

Mebarek Hocine, in his letter to President Obama, underlines the right to self-determination for the people of Western Sahara, the last remaining colony in Africa, to make it possible for Hocine's family to return back to their homeland after 40 years in exile.

During the discussion following the film screening, the filmmaker said he tries, through the movie he himself financed, to shed light on Western Sahara people's suffering and right to independence and liberty.

Saharawi refugees, as the other oppressed peoples on Earth, have the right to return back to their homeland.

Mohamed M'hamedi, in his 13-minute documentary-like production, relates the "true" story of a family living in the Saharawi refugee camps.

The film competed in several international festivals winning five awards, including a Grand Prix in Colombia.

It will participate at Festival of Scotland next November, the filmmaker said.