February’s Film Club: Reflections in the Sand

Welcome to Sandblast’s Film Club, a monthly initiative dedicated to exploring stories from and about Western Sahara through the power of film.

Each month, we feature a film that spotlights Saharawi voices, stories, and struggles, aiming to deepen our collective understanding and spur dialogue within our community.

Our February 2026 feature is ‘Reflections in the Sand’ - a poignant and evocative 16-minute documentary that offers an intimate window into the Saharawi experience, created by Guillermo Marín in 2025.

The film follows a young Saharawi man on a deeply personal mental journey as he recounts his last visit to the refugee camps. A return that was marked by memory, longing, and the weight of his people’s displacement.

Through his narration, the boundaries between places, rituals, history, and time begin to blur. His voice becomes intertwined with the echoes of his mother’s stories, blending inherited memory with lived experience.

What emerges is a powerful meditation on identity and loss, as the film draws a stark contrast between the recent past, still touched by hope and continuity, and a present shaped by exile and the fragile endurance of a people determined to preserve their culture and homeland.

Why We Love the Film:

This film tackles the intergenerational relationship to memory and community shared by Saharawis as they live on in refugee camps, occupation, and diaspora.

As a fourth generation of Saharawis grows up in the refugee camps, it is more important than ever to revisit the complex relationship to the past, and aspirations for a brighter future.

This film captures those sentiments beautifully.