Greta Thunberg Makes Surprise Appearance at Zurich Premiere of ‘My Home of Wind and Sand,’ Denounces Occupation of Western Sahara

Greta Thunberg made a surprise appearance on Tuesday at Zurich Film Festival, where she joined the screening of a new documentary “My Home of Wind and Sand,” which looks at the occupation of Western Sahara by Morocco.

Calling the film “powerful” and able to “create change,” Thunberg minced no words when speaking about the world’s attitude toward the region. “There’s this extreme hypocrisy that makes me so, so angry and upset,” she said.

“For me, this movie was so much about betrayal. There are so many levels of betrayal. First, there’s the occupation and the violence itself that somehow becomes ‘normal’ or is viewed as normal. It’s not easy to get any media attention and clicks, which is another betrayal,” she said. Then there’s “the betrayal of the international solidarity movement.”

Western Sahara has been occupied by Morocco since 1975. It is often referred to as the last colonial conflict in Africa. In 2025, the U.S. reaffirmed its recognition of Moroccan sovereignty.

Recently, Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” faced backlash for filming scenes in the Western Sahara, with Nolan accused of “contributing to Morocco’s repression of the Sahrawi people.” The Western Sahara International Film Festival (FiSahara) even put out a statement urging him to stop production.

Turning to the film’s protagonist, Sahrawi human rights activist Najla Mohamed-Lamin, Thunberg said: “I’m convinced that people like you do not want thanks or applause, but action. It falls on every single one of us in this room, especially us privileged people who have a platform and access to resources, to take that moral obligation to amplify the Western Sahara struggles.”

“Otherwise, we are nothing more than hypocrites,” she added.

Mohamed-Lamin, whose life and fight for Western Sahara independence is depicted in the doc, became emotional, noting: “As I was watching these 10 years of my life, I couldn’t stop thinking about all the stories and lives in the last 50 years that nobody has heard of, which are probably far more inspiring than mine: My grandmother, my sister who passed away, my mother, all our neighbors. All the thousands of people we buried in these camps who would have never wished to be buried there.”

Mohamed-Lamin added, “As somebody who’s a refugee forgotten in the desert, you’re always looking for a little window to share your story. I didn’t know it would develop into a documentary. The only thing I know is that I carry the message of my people, and I will share it everywhere I go: In a documentary, in an article, in a train station or on a plane, because I’m the voice. The world has to know the truth.”

Directed by Patrick Wally, the film is sold by Lightbox.

Thunberg, who visited a Sahrawi refugee camp in 2025, also took part in a special panel discussion on “Resistance and Activism for Western Sahara.”