La Rose des Vents

(France, 2009, 79 mins)
French with English subtitles
Directed by: Baba Hillman
Cinematography, Editing: Baba Hillman
Cast:  Fati Dembaga, Aissatta Sylla, Marie-Laure Bourdon
Music: Mike Ladd

Aissatta, 16, and Fati, 23, live in the banlieue north of Paris, in a cité called "La Rose des Vents." Their father emigrated from Mauritania to France 40 years ago to work on the Citroën assembly line. Shot over a period of three years, the film follows the stories of the two sisters, their refusal of traditional ideas of “Frenchness,” and their search for financial and emotional independence within a community where patriarchal traditions continue to dominate.