Senegal, Mauritania and Belgium / 2007 / 56mins / Documentary / Hassania

In the haven of Oualata, in a society apparently dominated by tradition, religion and men, three women practice traditional painting by decorating the walls of the city and unabashedly express themselves. They freely discuss the relationship between men and women.

Katy Lèna N’diaye

Katy Léna N'diaye, born in 1968, is a Senegalese-French documentary filmmaker, best known for her documentaries about women muralists in Africa. Born in Senegal, N'diaye grew up in Europe. She studied modern literature in Paris, and undertook further study in broadcast journalism. She has worked as a journalist for TV5 Monde and RTBF, and lives in Brussels, Belgium. N'diaye's documentary Traces – characterized by Elvis Mitchell in the New York Times as "visually sharp and lovingly informal" – focussed on mural painting by Kassena women in Burkina Faso. In the documentary, three elderly women explain the content of the murals covering the reddish-clay huts to Anetina, a young unmarried woman. Awaiting for Men documented three older women talking as they painted the town wall in Oualata, an oasis town on the edge of the Sahara Desert in southeast Mauritania. Parallel to her career as a filmmaker, Katy Léna Ndiaye works for television as well. From 2000 to 2018, she presented and later directed Reflets Sud and Afrique Plurielle CIRTEF productions, broadcast on TV5 Monde and the Belgian RTBF. Since 2013, she has been running Indigo Mood Films, a production company based in Senegal. Learn More