The Dutch documentary Welcome to the Smiling Coast: Living in the Gambia Ghetto will have its Dutch premiere on Saturday, August 27, at World Cinema Amsterdam. The film by director Bas Ackermann and producer Emiel Martens, which had its world premiere earlier this year at the Pan African Film Festival (PAFF), the largest black film festival in the Americas, deals with the impact of tourism in the Gambia, West Africa.

Welcome to the Smiling Coast follows the lives of 15 young Gambians trying to make ends meet on the fringes of the tourism industry – from hotel security guards and taxi drivers to street musicians and sex workers. In recent years, Gambia has become increasingly popular as a holiday destination for Europeans seeking sun, sea, and sex. Since 2005, the smallest country on the African continent has typically received more than 100,000 visitors a year, mostly older white women, leading the Gambian coastline to be dubbed the Costa del Sol of Africa.

The luxury enjoyed by tourists often stands in stark contrast to the opportunities available to local residents, who sometimes live in shantytowns literally a stone's throw from tourist hotels and beaches. For this reason, some young Gambians view the illegal crossing to Europe as their only hope for a better life. Welcome to the Smiling Coast portrays, in a lighthearted (and musical) yet critical manner, the creative strategies employed by young Gambians to survive. They speak candidly about their work, their dreams, and their fears, ultimately raising the question of whether they will seek their fortune abroad or manage to find their final destination within Gambia.

Welcome to the Smiling Coast is the first feature-length documentary by Dutch film duo Bas Ackermann and Emiel Martens. Ackermann is a filmmaker from The Hague, and Martens is a film scholar and producer from Amsterdam. Together, they made Welcome to the Smiling Coast with a minimal budget, funded from within their own ranks and without any form of subsidy. Following the world premiere at the Pan African Film Festival, the African premiere at the AfricanBamba Human Rights Film Festival, and the European premiere at the Galway African Film Festival, the screening at World Cinema Amsterdam marks the Dutch premiere. Both Ackermann and Martens will be present, as will Alhagie Manka, one of the film's Gambian crew members. Jessica Bouva from the Dohantu Foundation will introduce the film and lead the Q&A afterwards.

Ackermann: 'The idea for the film originated about eight years ago, when I set up 'State of Mic' in Gambia, an audiovisual center to train young people there to become media professionals. Some of them also worked on Welcome to the Smiling Coast as crew members.' Martens: 'In times of negative stereotyping, especially surrounding the refugee crisis, we try to present a more human and positive face of Africa and Africans. We also want to strike a critical note regarding the impact of Western tourism in non-Western countries. We are honored that our no-budget film is being screened at World Cinema Amsterdam and other film festivals worldwide.' In October, Welcome to the Smiling Coast travels to the Cine Pobre Film Festival in Mexico, a film festival for the best self-financed films, and the Lusaka International Film & Music Festival in Zambia.

The premiere of Welcome to the Smiling Coast begins on Saturday, August 27 at 8:30 PM at Rialto. Tickets for the screening can be ordered online via http://bit.ly/wttscpremiere. For more information about the film, including the trailer and all screening locations and dates, see www.welcometothesmilingcoast.com.



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