Lightdox acquires world sales rights to My Home of Wind and Sand ahead of Zurich premiere

Lightdox has acquired the world sales rights to the documentary My Home of Wind and Sand, in advance of its world premiere at the Zurich Film Festival. The film, directed by Patrick Wally, traces the life of Najla Mohamed Lamin, a Sahrawi refugee and climate and human-rights activist born in an Algerian refugee camp, as she pursues peaceful resistance and community-building amid a decades-long struggle for Western Sahara’s self-determination.

Greta Thunberg is expected to attend the Zurich premiere and participate in a post-screening conversation with Lamin. Thunberg visited Sahrawi refugee camps last year, where she and Lamin led a climate-change workshop. The documentary frames Lamin’s work as a personal story rather than a geopolitical symbol, with the film presenting Western Sahara through Lamin’s lived experience and everyday actions in her community.

A synopsis accompanying the project states that the film is told through conversations with the filmmaker and gradually becomes visible within the narrative. It follows Lamin as she navigates everyday responsibilities—raising her family and building a future for her community—while advocating for peaceful resistance as a generation born in exile grows older without a political resolution.

In the director’s statement, Wally describes meeting Lamin a decade ago and recognizing the film’s necessity. He notes that Lamin’s life, more than the broader conflict, anchors the documentary’s focus on endurance, future-building, and the meaning of pacifism and agency under seemingly immovable history. The film positions these questions at the center of its storytelling rather than at the margins of a geopolitical debate.

Production credits include Shirin Hooshmandi and Najla Mohamed Lamin as producers, with Patrick Wally serving as director and cinematographer. Anna Kirst edited the film, with Daniel Rutz contributing additional editing, and Ahmed Zain composing the score. WyFilm is credited in association materials with the project.

Beyond its Zurich launch, the film is slated for additional public screenings in the festival run. The documentary’s release comes at a moment when Western Sahara’s status has drawn renewed international attention, framing Lamin’s personal narrative within a broader humanitarian context described in the accompanying materials.

Lightdox’s chief executive Anna Berthollet underscored the company’s intent to bring Lamin’s perspective to global audiences, emphasizing the intimate quality of the film and its emphasis on living, family, and community as the vehicle for change. The acquisition signals a push to place a human-centered story at the heart of conversations about self-determination, climate justice, and women’s rights in exile communities.

Source: Deadline

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