This black and white documentary film from 1949 was produced by Louis de Rochemont Associates, Inc., distributed by United World Films, Inc, directed by John Ferno, and photographed by filmmaker Richard Leacock. It follows the lives of a group of Arab nomads who live with their flocks and herds near the Atlas Mountains in the Sahara Desert in French Morocco. The film opens with the rocky limestone portion of the Sahara and the men around the campfire in the morning (:27-1:15). A man’s wealth is measured by the number of camels he owns and so camels are shown (1:15-2:10) as are goats (2:10-2:20). A camel is milked (2:25-2:36). A boy wraps his head in a long turban. His lunch is milk from a bowl and dates (2:37-3:15). The women use donkeys to go to a pool of water and fill goat skins (3:19-4:25). Two women use a spinning pottery device to grind nut barley (4:28-4:45). The water skins are hung on wooden racks (4:48-4:55). A woman uses the grain to make couscous in a woven basket sealed over steaming soup (5:00-5:32). The Muslim men bow in prayer (5:35-5:48). The couscous is removed from the basket, ready to eat (5:50-6:00). A kettle pours water over hands to clean them (6:02-6:18) as the meal is eaten with the fingers (6:20-6:48). Camp is packed within three hours to move to new feeding grounds. Belongings are moved in leather bags and metal boxes, with fragile items wrapped (6:51-7:28). The camel-hair tents are collapsed for packing (7:29-7:42). A camel loudly protests his load (7:43-8:08). Young children are loaded into a frame that can be covered on a docile camel’s back (8:09-8:34). The caravan of people and animals move across the desert (8:36-9:49). The process of setting up new camp begins in reverse (9:50-10:42). The women make barley bread using hot stones (10:45-11:16). The children are taught from the Koran (11:17-11:44). The men gather in the chief’s tent for barley drinks (11:51-12:27). A group with camels heads to the city to sell them for money to buy provisions (12:28-13:30). They stop for the night at an oasis full of palm trees and water (13:31-14:12). To get water to local fields, a farmer digs an irrigation trench that must be restored that day. A water clock uses a bowl with a hole in the bottom to define the amount of time water can be used (14:14-15:27). Dates are gathered from a date palm tree (15:36-16:05). The men continue to the city on camels (16:06-16:30). They reach the city’s camel market where camels are inspected, sold, and loaded into trucks for transport (16:31-18:12). Inside the busy marketplace, the men make purchases. (18:13-18:45). This includes Chinese teas (18:45), wood (19:04), and barley (19:30). The call for prayer is made by a muezzin at the mosque (20:00-20:20). The men return to their camp with their camels and purchases (20:21-20:55).

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