MALI BLUES

Credits

Name: MALI BLUES

Country: Deutschland

Year of publication: 2016

Format: DCP

Color: color

Language : OF m. dt. UT

Duration: 93 Minuten

Direction: Gregor, Lutz

Screenplay: Gregor, Lutz

Camera: Schneppat, Axel

Sound: Pascal Capitolin Karsten Höfer Daniel Piechotka Jörg Höhne

Guest: Gregor, Lutz

Abstract

After Islamists took control of the regions of Timbuktu and Kidal in northern Mali, banning dance and secular music and destroying instruments there, many musicians had to flee out of fear for their lives. The film MALI BLUES introduces four artists whose music speaks out against fanaticism, hate and violence and for a tolerant Islam: Fatoumata Diawara, who has already performed on-stage in Cologne before as a shooting star of the world music scene at the Cologne Philharmonic, and appeared on-screen at the African Film Festival as an actress in the feature films SIA and TIMBUKTU; Bassekou Kouyaté, griot and master of the ngoni, the traditional Malian string instrument; Ahmed Ag Kaedi, an electric guitar virtuoso influenced by Jimi Hendrix and leader of the Tuareg band Amanar; and young rapper Master Soumy.
They all have one thing in common: their music gives people the power to change things and the hope of a peaceful future together. The film documents this with poetic images and features a magnificent soundtrack that ranges from gentle a capella singing to rocking, full-blast concert recordings.