“Hotel Sahara” is a metaphor for the transition of migrants who left their old life behind and who haven't reached what they have been dreaming of. The focus of the film is Nouhadibou, or Hotel Sahara in Mauretania, a transit location where thousands of immigrants are on their way to Europe. Travelers from Sub-Saharan countries arrive in this melting pot, which has been a platform of human traffic for centuries. Located in the past and the future, this film offers an intimate inside look into this place of waiting, of hope, of unfulfilled dreams, of invented and true stories, and of double identities.
Bettina Haasen was born in 1969. She studied African Languages and Political Sciences in Hamburg and Paris. In 1997, during her work as a producer for the documentary production company EGOLI Films in Berlin, she started working on her own film projects. In 2001 she decided to live and work in Niger, Africa. In 2004 she returned to Germany.
Between Two Worlds (2000), A Love Apart (2005), Shadows of the Desert (2006), Irene Dische – My Life (2007), Berlin 24h (2008), Hotel Sahara (2008)
