85 minutes, 2015
Director: Hadja LAHBIB (Belgium)
Production Company: Les Passeurs de Lumière, Clair-obscur Productions, RTBF, Arte (Belgium)

In the 1960’s, thousands of North Africans came to work in Belgium. Among them, women who had left everything behind to follow a man to an unknown land.
“Patience, patience, t’iras au paradis!” is the catch-phrase repeated a thousand times to help these women put up with their lives without complaint.
50 years later, the taste for emancipation is taking over. They are incredibly happy, capable of deeply uninhibited self-mockery. This film accompanies them in their many discoveries, by the simplicity of their ballads, the warmth of their femininity and humour.

Hadja LAHBIB
Journalist, film-maker and presenter, Hadja LAHBIB is known to the general public as one of the faces of RTBF. She presents RTBF’s TV news as well as two cultural programmes on Arte Belgique. For many years she has travelled the world, now she focuses on culture and directing.
“Patience, patience, t’iras au paradis!” is her third documentary, after “Afghanistan. Le choix des femmes” (2007) and “Le cou et la tête” (2008).