A Film About Endurance THE RUNNER focuses on the champion long distance runner, Salah Ameidan, who has become a symbol and hero of the independence movement of the Western Sahara – a territory under Moroccan occupation since 1975. The film explores how he has used the sport as a means of political expression, “Running is part of my resistance. It’s the only weapon I have” (Salah Ameidan).
Salah’s career began at fourteen on Morocco’s Junior Athletics team, from there he went on to become the triple cross-country champion for Morocco, win 2nd place in the Africa Championships and win the Arab World Championship twice. He was a celebrated athlete in Morocco until 2003, when he waved a Sahrawi flag, a symbol of Western Sahara’s independence movement, across the finish line as he took first place in an international final in France. Knowing he could never return to Morocco safely, he immediately sought political asylum in France and has been there ever since. He was offered citizenship by France and Spain, but refused both, saying he would never run under any flag but that of a liberated Western Sahara.
Salah insists, whenever possible, on representing the Western Sahara in competition. Today, he is not only one of the highest profile Sahrawi activists in the world, but is seen by his people as a hero, a symbol, an ambassador and a spokesman for the Western Sahara liberation movement.
The Runner follows Salah during three critical years of the “Arab Spring”, and examines what drives him to take immense risks, and make huge sacrifices, for a cause that is virtually unknown. The film looks at the burden of being a hero and asks “how long, before you stop running”?
Link to the film’s trailer: https://vimeo.com/14377482
The screening will be attended by Salah and the director, Saeed Taji Farouky, which will be followed by a Q&A session.