Heremakono wins FESPACO 2003   Best actor and actress awards   Prize winners   Promised Land is a hit   South Africa stronger than ever   Nigerian film debut   What you said on Africa Live   FESPACO winner banned at home   Why not African actors?   Ivorians stay away from FESPACO   FESPACO 2003 Opening Ceremony   Congolese band get the party started   FESPACO prepares for lift off   FESPACO Director invites the stars		Heremakono wins the best film award at FESPACO 2003 Heremakono wins FESPACO 2003 Mauritanian Director Abderrahmane Sissako and his film Heremakono have won FESPACO's most prestigious award, for best movie. The coveted Stallion of Yennenga trophy was presented at a spectacular closing ceremony of FESPACO 2003 at the Municipal stadium in Ouagadougou. The award and prize money of more than US$11,000 was handed to the winning director by Burkinabe President Blaise Compaore who entered the stadium on a red carpet. Heremakono (Waiting for Happiness) is a dramatic comedy set in Mauritania and looks at issues of identity, home and longing for other lands. In the film we get to know the members of a small fishing community on the shores of Nouadhibou. Looking out to sea the villagers dream of a hypothetical world far away. The interweaving stories of people in the community are told with the lightest touch. Director Abderrahmane Sissako was born in Mauritania in 1961. He spent his childhood in Mali and returned to Mauritania before leaving for Moscow to study film. He is one of the most respected African film directors and his reputation can only grow after winning FESPACO 2003.

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