The Way North

From Marseilles, comes a story of a community of North African Immigrant women making new lives for themselves in tense modern-day France. Riots throughout France in November 2005 and the recent presidential election are backdrops to the stories of three women--a photographer, a sans papiers (without papers) and a young mother--who blend traditional culture with new ideas. Stunning images and verité portraits reveal Fatima, Hadja, and Itto as they traverse new borders, and forge new paths for themselves and for their daughters.

Shara K. Lange is founder and director of Light Projects: Documentary/Art/Community and is completing her MFA in film production at the University of Texas at Austin's Radio/TV/Film department, with emphases on documentary and experimental film. Her thesis film tells the story of North African immigrant women in southern France. She was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to study Arabic and to make the documentary, “The Dressmakers,” in September, 2007.