Patience, Patience, You’ll Go to Paradise

“Patience, patience, you’ll get to heaven,” is what Mina and many other women like her are told every day to help them get through the toils of their lives without complaining. But at long last, things are beginning to change for them.

Mina belongs to a generation of women who married young and emigrated from North Africa to Europe in the 60s. Mostly, they found themselves isolated from the world, trapped by language and culture barriers of language, cooking and cleaning for their families. Now their children are grown, some of these women are beginning to venture out and experience the world before it’s too late. Patience, Patience follows seven of these women, narrated by Mina, as they begin to learn new things, take steps towards independence and even travel to New York.

Taking the form of a simple fly-on-the-wall documentary, Patience, Patience serves as an intriguing and uplifting exploration of these women’s lives as they discuss their pasts in small Moroccan villages, their views on men, women and marriage, and the gradual cultural shifts within their current homes and their birthplaces. Along for the ride is Tata Milouda, a truly inspirational artist and slam poet, who uses the domestic violence she suffered at the hands of her husband as inspiration and speaks out in the hope of changing things. The filmmakers handle these deep and personal issues delicately and at no point does the filming feel intrusive.

This is certainly an eye-opening documentary, touching on members of society that are so rarely seen or heard from. Their fascinating journeys and views seem painfully relevant, particularly with the increasing extremism in Islam today and the knowledge that whatever pain and hardship these women went through, it was in Europe and in a country that claims equal rights and protection for all.

In a world with increasing immigration, the stories of Mina and her friends are increasingly important and serve as a sobering reminder of how damaging cultural isolation can be. Patience, Patience is definitely a significant film and hopefully it will reach the audience it needs to.

Natasha Furlong

Patience, Patience is released in select on 15^th January 2016.