Patience, patience

In the 1960s, hundreds of North African families came to Europe in hopes of a better life. The men found work while the women were in charge of the housekeeping and looking after the children. Mina was one of them. Now, 50 years later, her husband is deceased, the children have left home and Mina is pining away in a tiny apartment in Brussels. She never learned to read or write, or find a way to occupy her time, so all she can do now is sit and wait. With the words “patience, patience, you will go to paradise,” she tries to keep her spirits up. When she attends a poetry slam by the emancipated Moroccan Tata Milouda, her outlook on life changes. Slowly but surely, she meets more women in the same boat and discovers a life of freedom that she has never known. Together with a group of friends Mina learns to read and write, goes to computer classes and takes trips to the center of Brussels, the North Sea and even to New York. The enthusiasm and joy with which the women search for their own identity and freedom is heartwarming and contagious. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)