Mauritania-born filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako has written and directed a wide range of award-winning feature films, including Life on Earth, Waiting for Happiness, Bamako, and Timbuktu. Sissako contemplates West Africa's changing role on the world stage in his intellectual films, addressing everything from the impact of World Bank and IMF policies in Mali to Islam in the southern Sahara. Blending the everyday beauty of the region with a critical eye, Sissako is considered one of the African continent's most important filmmakers. This film series is co-presented by the UW African Studies Program, Black Cinema Collective, Henry Art Gallery, Northwest Film Forum, and the Simpson Center for the Humanities.