Post by Addis Rumble * “Ethiopia is an island,” Vincent Moon explains. The French filmmaker has been on the road for four years now travelling and filming music and spiritual rituals across the globe and releasing them through his Petites Planètes label. 2012 saw him spending three months in Ethiopia exploring and recording Easter in Gonder and the sounds of Merkato among other things – either alone or with sound artist Jacob Kirkegaard (who we recently interviewed). We caught up with Vincent after he left Ethiopia and asked him to reflect on the struggles and rewards of filming in the country, his explorations of sacred music and trance in Ethiopia and how his nomadic life is transforming him into a chameleon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IN_ynmOZ5Jk You have been traveling around the world documenting musicians for a few years now. What made you come to Ethiopia? It’s a decision I took one day after exchanging mails with Danish fellow artists Jacob Kirkegaard and Malene Nielsen, who already knew the country. They wanted to collaborate on a project made there, I jumped on the idea as I dreamed for a long time of Ethiopia, and I decided to go. When I take a decision I usually never come back on it, so it was stuck in my mind. In the end Malene didn’t come and we made a very different project with Jacob but life took us on this path. How does your work typically take form when coming to a new country? Where do you start and do you have any common themes that you explore across the countries you are visiting? Usually I travel with a few contacts in a country, some people who have been in touch with me maybe in the past years (showing my films, or just exchanging ideas about music and cinema) and with whom I kept in touch and proposed them to produce some local films in their own city, country. I never work with professionals and I am always more inclined towards people who have never done anything like this – same for sound recording actually, I tend to ask local people to record the sounds of a shooting and I explain them on the spot what to do with it. So to collaborate with Jacob was definitely a very different challenge. But as for me coming to Ethiopia in the first place, this time I had almost no contacts at all in the country and I thought maybe a bit too optimistically that I would find them there. Well, things went a bit more complicated! I arrived in the country two months before Jacob and went to explore many parts, the north, the east, the south. And I ran into so many problems it was almost like a joke. I really had a terrible time for a while there, until things started to get more harmonized. I didn’t have many plans beforehand anyway in terms of recording, all I knew was that, as I was familiar obviously with the Ethiopiques releases made by Falceto, I wanted to avoid anything related to it and dig into the unknown for me. Apart from Alemu Aga with whom we made a very nice recording (and God how wonderful this man is, it was a light in my trip), all the other ‘music’ I recorded there, I had no idea they were existing just a few weeks ago. There was maybe a common theme, which is something I am researching in all my travels now – exploring the sacred music, and relationships of the people with any religious rituals. What was your approach to filming in Ethiopia? How much of your work done in Ethiopia was planned beforehand, and how much of it was improvised? As said before, I don’t like to plan much as I give myself a lot of time in the places I visit. In Ethiopia, I didn’t plan anything specific, and I found all my subjects there on the spot. This is apart from Alemu Aga maybe, whose record I loved so much and which sounded from another planet, so I contacted him as soon as I arrived and proposed him a film – I waited to the end of my trip and the coming of Jacob to make it sound fantastic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5obSvevmoCM The Gamo people from Addis I met early on and planned a recording later, again waiting for Jacob to arrive to make it better. While hanging out at the Taitu Hotel and talking with some funny explorers there (I love Taitu for the incredible characters you bump into), I met some people who told me about the Zar practices still happening in the north and about the exorcism rituals in Addis Ababa. It’s through Japanese ethnographer Itsushi Kawasse that I heard about the Lalibalocc tradition. I planned to visit Gondar during Easter and wanted to make a recording of the ceremony, which I did in this magnificent Debre Berhan Selassie church. I went to Harar with the intention of reaching the Zikris rituals and I met there with Amir Redwan who opened the doors of its ‘nabi gal’ for me. And it’s Jacob Kirkegaard who told me about the fabulous sounds we could record in Merkato. All in all, you could say it was often very much improvised on the spot, with some intense researches made the days before in the same area. How is filming in Ethiopia different from of some of your other recent destinations? To put it simply, so much more complicated! Ah, I laugh about it now but at the time, it was driving me crazy. Since then I have been traveling through Ukraine and the North Caucasus of Russia recording ancient music, and it’s been such a contrast, so easy on everything, that I looked back to those three months spent in Ethiopia with a very different feeling. In Ethiopia, people didn’t care at all about being recorded. Most of the musicians I ran into were so pretentious and asked for so much money to perform (I never paid any musicians before for the recordings, so the contrast was a bit tough) that I was feeling very awkward – I didn’t have any money to give them, being completely broke myself (bad idea, you can travel being broke in many places around the world, but not in Ethiopia), and the simple fact of paying someone to perform was something I avoided always to keep a ‘true’ relationship to the musicians. Was I wrong? Maybe. So I paid most of the people I filmed in Ethiopia. Did they play better because of the money? I don’t think so. Did it create a weird relationship on my side? Most of the time, but it’s my own fault. I remember this quote from Michel Leiris: “Africa does not need me.” Well, Ethiopia didn’t need me! For outsiders coming to Ethiopia the first time, Ethiopia often seems like a unique, closed and secretive society with strong traditions difficult to understand and interpret. What was your experience like? Could you get access to the subjects, places, and ideas you wanted to work with? Ethiopia is an island in my mind, that’s how I see the country – being so cut off from its neighbors because of its mountainous land, developing a unique culture in Africa and so on... We know the story now. It’s a fascinating place, incredibly beautiful and with such unique traditions, I was quite blown away. I didn’t find it hard to access at all, people being very open although complicated to deal with sometimes. As long as you keep in mind that spirituality here still has a strong meaning, you can navigate easily and spend a fabulous time immersed in the culture. As I said, my only difficulty in terms of shooting was that almost no musicians was interested in what I wanted to do. I completely understand it although I suffered a lot from it. But you know... the eternal faranji paradox. Your films from Ethiopia are quite an eclectic mix – from the sounds of Merkato via the begegna of Alemu Aga to the polyphonic singing of the Gamo and Dorze tribes etc. Do you have any favorites among your films done in Ethiopia? Maybe two favorites. The most beautiful experience shooting was the Fasika (Easter) night in Gonder. I was alone and wanted to access the church for the ritual, I tried to get some contacts in town the days before but all of them were so unreliable that I dropped them and just went by myself, late afternoon. I was there before anybody, and little by little the church started to get filled with priests and so on. All of them were surprised to see me and asked me what I was doing, I just said I was curious, that I was a catholic who wanted to switch to orthodoxy. Little by little over four hours I gained their confidence by looking and smiling at each of them and then at one moment of the night I took my camera out of my bag. Nobody then asked me what I was doing, if I was making a film or anything like that. They just took me with them until the end of the night. It was a very powerful experience, and a very beautiful film although anybody who knows about the church in Ethiopia will probably look at it without any interest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0-D3BbDhAM The second favorite recording was with Tilahun, the Lalibela singer. I got his contact through Kawasse, I called him and he asked for so much money that we couldn’t find an agreement. Two days later he calls me back and says he is in Addis, ready to record. I ask him to share a coffee with me, and bargain with him, smashing the table, saying this will be one of the most important moment of our lives. He is a beautiful soul, very quiet and he gets my point even though I used the aggressive method. He leaves and I realize I even forgot to ask him to sing! I don’t know at all how good he is. Very early next morning we are with Jacob in the dark streets of Addis, following this tall shadow going from one house to another, wondering why the hell did we woke up so early. He starts finally to sing in front of a door, his voice reaches such heights that we all shake. Maybe the most beautiful voice I ever recorded. Several of your films from Ethiopia focus on the mix of music, religion and rituals, e.g. the Orthodox Easter ceremony in Gonder, the sufism tradition in Harar and exorcism rituals at Entoto Maryam. Was this a specific objective from your side or the result of Ethiopia being a very religious society? I enjoyed very much Ethiopia being a strong spiritual place, but my choice to make such recordings already started in my recent researches on religious rituals, on relationships between music, trance and so on. I already made some films on Zar ceremony in Cairo (although there it’s a quite different story), filmed various sufi rituals in Indonesia, recorded trance rituals amongst afro-brazilian religions, made many experiences with shamanism and so on in Colombia or the Philippines. It’s a personal spiritual quest which is maybe my main objective in life nowadays. When the conversation turns to Ethiopia, most non-Ethiopians still think of famine and long-distance runners. What is the first thing that comes to your mind? Nowadays when I think back I remember a country so unique in its culture that it has no equivalent in the world. And I really wish I can go back there soon, and explore more of the southern part of it, the richness of its animism and so on. Also comes back to mind this extreme tension between a culture so rich, a nature so beautiful, and an economy so poor that it really made you seriously question the way we want things to evolve in such a place. What started your move from doing the Take Away Shows of indie musicians (and others) to recording traditional music across the globe through the Petites Planètes series? Curiosity, to put it simply. I can’t stop moving and doing something else, it’s more a sickness than anything else. 4 years ago I was still in Paris, still recording indie music, and I ended up homeless by accident and started to travel, invited in various places around the world. At first I continued to record indie music, in Chile, in Argentina, but then little by little I was more and more drawn into traditional music, ancient singings, sacred music and so on. It’s a very natural move I think for someone who travels, you leave your culture little by little, not from one day to another, and start to adopt other cultures for a short period of time. You become a sort of chameleon, your personality changes everyday and life appears as a game, a new adventure all the time. And what keeps you motivated now after years on the road – the need to document and archive musical heritage, eagerness to explore the world, restless? A mix of all this, but especially the feeling of being younger and younger everyday living such a life. There is no tomorrow, just the excitement of being with people you didn’t know anything about 5 minutes before and having an intense experience. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfqm7fDxmEY * This is a slightly edited version of an interview originally published by Addis Rumble. We've been long-time followers and admirers of Vincent Moon's work (and featured some of it here on the blog before, notably his collaboration with Femi Kuti, Brazilian artists and Egyptian muezzin Saeed Khaled) so we're grateful Addis Rumble allowed us to cross-post it. More of Vincent Moon’s films from Ethiopia are available here, here or here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bogqBbx-33o Friday/Weekend Bonus Music Breaks got side-tracked a bit lately because of the Afcon fever. Good times were had by all. Let's pick up the thread though. Here are 10 music videos you might have missed over the past weeks. Burkina-American Ismael Sankara (remember Mikko's write-up about Ismael's surname and possible affiliations) released a new video: above. Tyler the Creator-Yonkers-style, Elom 20nce's masks imagery, swag lyrics, stir, et voilà. Neat beats. More diaspora music: Nina Miskina (who was part of the Brussels-based Congolese Héritage project) seems to have put her theatre acting on the back burner to focus on her musical career. Here's a first video for 'Un verre de plus', taken from her debut EP: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n1CHwgePDI Another Belgian-Congolese artist is Coely. When footballer-and-aspiring-record-label-manager Vincent Kompany says we should like her, we'll like her: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsyezFSaOAw There's a high-profile (and heavily sponsored) electronic music festival happening in Cape Town, South Africa this weekend. Surprised not to find good old synth-duo Tannhäuser Gate on the bill: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skGk3s4zMfw Originally from Bangui, Central African Republic, Idylle Mamba now lives and works in Cameroon. This new video blends all kinds of styles: http://youtu.be/GcBcVkkp20s Also repping Cameroon (via the Netherlands) is Ntjam Rosie. From the video below, it looks like she's taking a break from her previous "soul jazz" work: http://youtu.be/lShAyHunUdU More funky rock courtesy of the Senegalese Daara J Family (they've been around for a while), vintage dancing and 'celebrating': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewVzhnbxmGQ This acoustic session by Gasandji and her band made me sit up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBNJFlAkms8 Cuban jazz pianist Omar Sosa has a new record out. He presented and talked about it at WNYC radio studios recently: a tribute to Miles Davis's Kind of Blue, while channelling the "Eggun" spirits: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_FcHcEJCUI And finally, this portrait by Vincent Moon of muezzin Saeed Rifai Ali Khaled in Cairo. Watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-vfT_FKriY

On display this month at the Centro Cultural Franco-Moçambicano in Maputo are Mozambican photographer Mário Macilau's portraits he made of elderly people all over the continent (Nigeria, Congo, Mozambique, Cameroon, Kenya, Mali, etc.) during the year 2012. The title of the series is “Esquecidos” (Forgotten). In a short email, Mário Macilau explained his project:

A number of studies indicate that the average life expectancy has increased in the last decades. The implementation of technology, agriculture, medicine and sanitation have contributed to this phenomenon. As a result, this significant part of the population is reaching an age that does not permit this population to participate in labour nor to contribute to the production of everyday activities and self-maintenance. The growth of the population over sixty-five years – the age of retirement – is only increasing to such an extent that the elderly population might constitute half of the entire European population in the coming twenty years. Could ageing thus be understood as a blessing?

In affluent societies, the demands of the high-performance labour that is paired with the increasing life expectancy, a culture of care homes has been put in place. Elderly members of the family are placed in these homes under care of professionals who are often strangers to these vulnerable groups. Care homes are part social club, dispensaries and hospices.

This culture of displacement stands in contrast with social values of the traditions of living together and growing old in one homestead, whereby senior members of the family were cared for by their offspring. Such cultures can still be found in rural areas and some parts of African countries.

* "Esquecidos" runs until 5 March 2013 at the Centro Cultural Franco-Moçambicano.

Nigerian photographer Jide Odukoya's portfolio offers an exceptional insight into the social fabric of Lagos. His Facebook page documents fashion events, open mic 'happenings' and weddings, while his official website reveals focused street photography series, such as 'ADay in the World (Creek Road Market)', 'Kids in Makoko', 'Lazy Obalende' or 'The Business of Worship'. As part of our "favorite photographs" series, we asked Odukoya to pick his 5 favorite shots, and share some words about how and where the images were made.

Recently I was selected to be a part of the Invisible Borders Trans-African Photography Project, which involved photographers, visual artists and film makers. Every year this collective welcomes new participants who travel through five to six countries in Africa all together in a van with the aim of telling African stories (by Africans) and building inter-relationships amongst participating artists and artists in countries visited. This year we travelled from Nigeria through Cameroon and Gabon before heading back to Lagos, Nigeria. The image above is one of the photographs I took in the process of passing through the muddy border village of Ejumoyock. It shows local villagers trying to pull out our van at Ejumoyock on our first night in the rain forests of Cameroon. I particularly like this photograph because it reminds me of the first of four nights we spent here trying to pull our van across roughly ten kilometres of severely muddy forest pathways. It was a tough experience for me; we slept in the van for five days and engaged only with the nearby village boys and the forest ants who kept us company through the night in the cold forest. These boys had just found a new job of helping stuck vehicles out of the forest. Due to land issues between the Nigerian and Cameroonian governments, the road which connects the south of Nigeria to the west of Cameroon has been left unattended to for years. The contract had just been awarded to a Chinese construction company which just recently began working on the road. The scene is one I would never forget in a hurry.

The following image is one I really love from the series Nigerians in Libreville, a documentary I did in Gabon which explores the paradoxical stories of Africans living on African soil, but in countries other than their respective native countries. There have been reported incidents of xenophobic discrimination and socio-political nightmare. A number of Nigerians who fled Nigeria during the Biafran war are now resident in Gabon. There are also others who arrived travelling through a deadly sea in search of a promised greener pasture. Most would agree that the economy of Gabon is far better than Nigeria while some, entrapped in circumstances far beyond their control, feel there is no place like home. Their stories recount their experiences; the dangers of migrating through the sea, challenges of starting a new life in a francophone country, a frictional relationship with the authorities, and the threatening fear of returning back to their homeland as empty as when they came.

I met Daniel on the 4th day we got into Gabon while still doing a street walk round a nearby market close to where we stayed. He saw me with my camera and was happy. For the first time I met someone who understood English and I asked to take a shot. Libreville is a photophobic city and people would readily shy away at the sight of a camera. I got into conversation with Daniel and got to know he was also a Nigerian. He told me how he had been managing his small business as an ice cream seller and how he wished to return to Nigeria later in December. I later returned days after our first meeting to take this shot of him. Although content with his current work and status, he says it’s time for him to visit his homeland Nigeria since he left as a child 23 years ago.

As part of my daily work on the trip, I documented the daily lives of Gabonese on the country's coast line. I came across this French man playing with the kids on the beach. This brings to mind the long-time relationship between France and Gabon, as noted by a Gabonese who said it’s much more difficult for somebody from a neighbouring country to come into Gabon than a visitor from France. Interestingly, it had been rather tedious for our team to get Visas into the country.

Next is one of my favourites from the Invisible Borders trip. While coming back from the trip, travelling several kilometres during the night through hilly and mountainous landscapes of Cameroon, we got to a village called Tiben as the day broke. Tiben has a very beautiful scenery and was very chilly with the clouds at sea level. I quickly grabbed my camera and ran down towards the hill. As I tried to capture the awesome spectacle, this girl appeared on my viewfinder out of nowhere. I was astonished! I never thought any human being could be living in that region, let alone a little girl.

French language proved a painful barrier as I tried to ask the girl some questions and have some small talk. She didn’t understand English either, I thought. She walked away. I now focused on the beautiful scenery. I am proud to be an African, living in a place called Africa.

It is hard to reflect objectively on the proliferation of Churches in Nigeria. There are many reasons for this, the major one being the manner in which spirituality has formed a sensitive layer in the subconscious of Christians, especially in the country's southern parts. The proliferation touches on media, the economy, and social structure. Many have attributed this quest for a better life to underdevelopment and poverty, but it is difficult to assume this lies at the crux of the growth and prosperity of churches. When I began to photograph the evidences of Christian life in Port Harcourt (where I currently live), I wanted to discover the subtleties inherent in Port Harcourt’s Christianity. I was interested in the way invitations stood out, how church leaders (with varying titles) used their posters not simply as advertisement but as self-aggrandizement.

It bothered me to question how these churches, in their numbers, and with thousands of worshippers, struggled for space, credibility and relevance. Was it really a struggle? Was there some unity in the similarity of posters, of postures, of worship? I understood, immediately, that I was trying to capture a landscape that captures attention through words and images. Out of all the images, the one above particularly stands out as it appears to have been inspired by Prison Break, the popular American prison series.

* Jide Odukoya resides in Lagos, Nigeria. His website: http://www.jideodukoya.com.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4bYGpOWoQ4 Let's start our weekly round-ups of new music videos this year with some bangers. Representing Congo this week, rapper (and professional dancer) Dinozord: above. Next up, there's new music and visuals from Art Melody (representing Burkina Faso): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J44uVvBsMF0 "Lefteneh" by Bajah and the Dry Eye Crew -- by the way, about the meaning of that Sierra Leonean "dry eye": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCIhVFmNNPQ Ty (born Ben Chijioke -- Nigerians claim him) has a new video out as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G1vb5KuCp4 From Liberia (Alloysious Massaquoi) and Nigeria (where Kayus Bankole's parents come from) via Scotland (Graham Hastings's place): Young Fathers: http://vimeo.com/57104451 Lee Fields played a set in a Dutch church last year. Yes, we'll feature all of his videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tFQRtzRAgA Another acoustic performance; by France-based Oxmo Puccino (né Abdoulaye Diarra): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcngLeBJckM Judging by the rate at which Laura Mvula is putting out quality videos recently, it seems she's intent on making the year 2013 hers. We don't mind: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5akYnlwubDo And in response to what's happening in Mali, Fatoumata Diawara and her label have brought together a big group of musicians to record the song below. Artists performing on the track include (I'm copy-pasting) Amadou and Mariam, Oumou Sangare, Bassekou Kouyate, Vieux Farka Toure, Djelimady Tounkara, Toumani Diabate, Khaira Arby, Kasse Mady Diabate, Baba Salah, Afel Bocoum, Tiken Jah, Amkoullel and Habib Koite. Bruce Whitehouse's got the details on the meaning of it all; and wonders where the Tuareg musicians are: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elwA7SHM8_U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=301NtFqV5SI Here's a resolution for the new year: to feature more Togolese pop. If you don't know who the above Toofan duo is, google "Cool Catché". Kuduro on the other hand we can never feature enough -- this is a new video for MC Maskarado: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr1SCxvUrlQ Don't miss this week's NPR piece on kuduro by the way, "The Dance That Keeps Angola Going"; they interviewed AIAC's Marissa Moorman for it. Next, from Uganda: Vampino and friends (arriving "from far") visit a rural village; a party ensues. A different kind of dance-hall/pop/(add style): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q0mUEuMLQM Gambian artists Xuman, Djily Bagdad, Tiat and Ombre Zion take a stand 'Against Impunity': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7I81EK-_JE South African Tumi Molekane directed a video for MC Reason (who is signed on Tumi's record label): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuQ-jg0LdLA Talking about labels...here's a new video for South African rapper Kanyi. The story is funny-sad, but probably quite real too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WRqq1SPeIc A video for Fatoumata Diawara's song about men trying their luck crossing the Mediterranean to get to Europe. Here's a translation of the lyrics. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piXLHdmAEMQ Malian trio Smod (remember them) is all for 'a united Mali': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv8cco3CSz4 Wonderful new video for Asa's Bond-esque 'The way I feel': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZy8cE4yQ74 And one of the albums I've been listening a lot to this year -- more about that next week -- is Carmen Souza's Kachupada. This is her version of Cape Verdean artists Humbertona and Piuna’s 1970s classic 'Seis one na Tarrafal': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOnAAEBROlM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5f_KAkAIWI Kuduro pioneer Sebem (fresh out of prison; he was in for repeated traffic violations, from what I understand) has a new video out (above); the clip's rural setting is surprising, given kuduro's over-all urban flow. Next, a Senegalese collaboration between Djibril Diop and Aida Samb: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_vLab3fiTg Kenyan Jeraw draws inspiration and images from local blockbuster film 'Nairobi Half Life': http://youtu.be/CPe-ADtSq1c A new video for Belgian-Congolese (but mostly Bruxellois) rapper Pitcho -- taken from his new album Rendez-Vous avec le Futur: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQuzRRzgheY Earl Sweatshirt wrote a "letter" to his South African dad Keorapetse Kgositsile: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCbWLSZrZfw From Lesotho, a new video (shot in Mozambique) for Kommanda Obbs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_t_rtkVmP8 London-based, Douala-born "one-man band" Muntu Valdo has a new video -- not sure why YouTube won't allow you to embed it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaM1_CmxjXk Swiss-Ghanaian singer/improvisational musician Joy Frempong "Oy"; you already know we've been following her work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4S6Z-9qR6U And two acoustic sessions to wind down. Guinea-Conakry-born, Canada-residing Alpha Yaya Diallo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZatR8sZMf8 And Cape Town-based Beatenberg (whose debut record 'Farm Photos' you should give a listen as well): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmVClLSAu3c Et voilà, back on Monday!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvF-sDfO_wU The Professor is a fiction film by Tunisian director Mahmoud Ben Mahmoud. Synopsis: Tunis 1977. Khalsawi Khalil, Professor of Constitutional Law is responsible to defend the official State's position in a period of tension between the government and the Interntional League for Human Rights. One day, Khalil learns that Houda, one of his students with whom he has an affair, has been arrested in the south of the country with two Italian journalists who came to investigate on strikes in the country's phosphate mines. Al Djazira ("The island"), an Algerian short directed by Amin Sidi-Boumédiene which recently won "Best Film from the Arab World" at the 2012 Abu Dhabi film festival. Below's the trailer. Follow the film's Facebook page for updates. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUXxBaJOSRM Al-khoroug lel-nahar ("Coming Forth by Day") is an Egyptian short film written and directed by Hala Lofty (her debut) about a mother and daughter looking after their stroke-ridden husband/father. A first review in Variety sounds promising: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD6O8Q78yi4 The film Malagasy Mankany ("Legends of Madagascar") by Haminiaina Ratovoarivony premiers in Antananarivo later this month. It's a drama-comedy-cum-road-movie about Malagasy youth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPo6VyFHchc Technically not a film yet to come, but an interesting campaign of films used for the 2012 Dream City event on public art in Tunis last September. "The project aim[ed] to develop and support artistic creations in public spaces in order to promote the democratisation of art and social change among ordinary citizens." They made a series of beautiful teaser videos in different colours: pink (with a Tinariwen soundtrack), red, green, yellow, and a general trailer (with a Massive Attack soundtrack): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cP2VECDJCE La charia ou l’exode, réfugiés du Mali ("Sharia or exodus, the refugees from Mali") is a documentary by Arnaud Contreras who interviewed Malians on the run for violence in their home towns/villages, "none of [whom] mention the destruction of the mausoleums of Timboctou": http://youtu.be/BmanPUXicpQ In Sen Kaddu: Autour des cinémas de Dakar, Momar Diol and Thomas Szacka-Marier interview people in Dakar about their most cherished memories of cinema and cinema halls. This project was done at the occasion of Dak'Art Off 2012, the Biennial of Contemporary African Art in Senegal. http://vimeo.com/42152002
Le Maréchalat du Roi Dieu ("The Marshalcy of King-God") is a documentary by Nathalie Pontalier, who tells the story of André Ondao Mba from Libreville, Gabon. Mba shares a house with his two sons but he is ill, suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. He has been painting murals for over twenty years -- containing messages and mythologies that remain opaque to many.
And LUX is a film by French photographer Sébastien Coupy about rural Burkina Faso. It's a collage of his photos, with commentary and voice-overs by Burkinabés about the many meanings and the scarce availability of electricity, "lumière", light, LUX. A first fragment here, and a second below: http://vimeo.com/49025586

http://vimeo.com/50370012 Documentary filmmakers are better at spreading the word about their new work on the web compared to fiction directors, or there's just more documentary films being made. (Or I'm looking in the wrong places.) Here are ten more films to watch out for. First, four fiction features: A Menina dos Olhos Grandes ("The girl with the big eyes") is based on a popular story from Cape Verde: a "creole girl" returns from Europe to her homeland due to the sudden death of her father where she will come up against an unfamiliar reality and ghosts of her past. Trailer above. (Also check this older trailer to get another feel of the film.) Tourbillon à Bamako ("Swirl in Bamako"). Synopsis: A wild chase in search of a lottery ticket through the streets of Bamako. Film Details:

• Country: Mali
• Director: Dominique Philippe
• Production: Babel Films
• Cast: Chek Oumar Sidibé, Mama Koné, Fatoumata Coulibaly

The film's Facebook page has a trailer.
A Lovers Call is a short film by Najma Nuriddin about Aasim, a young single Muslim man living in Washington DC who falls for a poet named Kala. The film is filed in the portfolio of Nsoroma Films, a US-based production house "of the African diaspora ... dedicated to telling organic stories." Here's a trailer: http://youtu.be/XtH6w5iR6lI Elelwani is a new film by South African director Ntshavheni wa Luruli (whose film The Wooden Camera was awarded the Crystal Bear for Best Youth Feature at the Berlinale in 2004). Selling-line: "the world's first Venda film": http://youtu.be/ZXCJR7MhvKg And six documentaries (made/in-the-making): The Engagement Party in Harare is a 35mins documentary film by British/Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Piotrowska "about post-colonial identities at the Harare International Festival of the Arts in Zimbabwe." The film features the HIFA organizers as well as Zimbabwean artists such as Raphael Chikukwa (photo left) and Tsitsi Dangaremba. No trailer yet.
Rwagasore: Life, Struggle, Hope is a film by directors Justine Bitagoye and Pascal Capitolin and producer Johan Deflander about Burundi's struggle hero Prince Louis Rwagasore who became the country's first Prime Minister, and was murdered a few days after the formation of his government, on October 13, 1961. According to the film's website "the film [was] shown during the [2012] cinquentenaire festivities on July 1st at the Burundi embassy in Moscow. This mainly for the Burundese diaspora in Russia." Here's a first trailer for I Sing the Desert Electric, a short film about electronic based musical phenomena occurring from Mauritania to Northern Nigeria. Cue sahelsounds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82Y3kpXgT6o Underground/On the Surface revolves around a new underground musical genre known as Mahraganat Shaabi which despite being rejected by the mainstream has become very popular with the youth in the streets of Cairo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NE7oo9PLm20 (Related: don't miss Afropop Worldwide's recent feature on Cairo's musical "underground".) Mother of the Unborn is Nadine Salib's first feature length documentary and looks at the challenges faced by Egyptian women unable to conceive, and subsequently face rejection by their families and stigmatization by their communities. The film tells stories of several childless women who navigate their world of rural Egyptian myths, legends, habits and traditions surrounding childbearing and infertility: http://vimeo.com/45878733
And in 1962: De l'Algérie française à l'Algérie algérienne ("From French Algeria to Algerian Algeria") Malek Bensmaïl and Marie Colonna revisit French and Algerians' moods and expectations during the seven weeks that separated the official France-Algeria cease-fire on March 19, 1962 from the first elections for the National Algerian Assembly. The film's website has a trailer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mkrhoILrK0 Azonto and its growing global reaches... Somebody should write a book about it. 'Tribal Azonto' above: Ghana via the UK -- sampling South African electro? Next, from Accra proper, a rap convo with Trebla, Hotjam, EL and Stargo (and many other cameos): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMCpxdneQCw Rap from a different kind and country: here's a new video for Milk Coffee & Sugar (that's Edgar Sekloka and Gaël Faye): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4PYgENqB_k Nigerian D.i.s Guise's track 'Mr Bambe' now has a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ExBP_S5FAQ And one last rap. The video is older, but Tanzanian collective X Plastaz released the long (and excellent) Shule mixtape this week. Ziggylah's 'Bang Bang' is on it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhFISb_gcpI 'Mabone' is a dance tune by Lesotho-born Refiloe "Chocolate Soul" Thoahlane. It comes with a glorious video: http://youtu.be/TqPL73vk9Dg We haven't included too many Mozambicans here recently. A pretty wild video for Dama do Bling's poppy 'Champion': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2S7FyTUxb4 More pop, from Uganda come Radio and Weasel (remember their 2010 classic 'Heart Attack Vuvuzela' -- they've upped the production quality of their music videos since): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZpinLkjyi8 Meanwhile in London: DJ Yoda, Afrikan Boy and Soom T throwing a party on a bus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azvirURDc1 And Melina Matrsoukass shot the video below in Jamaica for Chicago dance-hall duo Wild Belle's (brother and sister in fact) track 'Keep You'. It has elicited some interesting YouTube comments: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLKOmXm6W3s H/T's to @zach_rosen, @TIholie (via @nemesisinc), @ianbirrell, @Tribalmagz, @25toLyf and @Birdseeding.

http://vimeo.com/53588479 Ladies' Turn is a documentary film by Hélène Harder about a team of Senegalese women who fight to follow their passion for football "all the way from small, neighborhood fields to the tournament finals in Dakar’s newest stadium." More details on the film's website. Trailer above. For screening dates, check on their Facebook page. The Curse is a short film by British-Moroccan director Fyzal Boulifa, based on an anecdote told by his Moroccan mother and shot in the rural part of Chichaoua, "a little nowhere town" on the highway between Marrekech and Essauoira. Sight&Sound has an interview with Boulifa. The film is an allegorical tale about female sexuality, male dominance and gender relations in contemporary rural Morrocco, and Boulifa, backed by the UKs BFI & Channel 4 is surely heading towards a feature film next. The lead role is played by Ibtissam Zabara (left).
The Shore Break by Ryley Grunenwald (director) and Odette Geldenhuys (producer) follows a young rural activist and her 79-year-old headman in their joint fight to defend their family’s land (located in Pondoland, South Africa) after a government decision to allow the construction of a highway through their ancestral lands, which gives an Australian mining company access to their titanium-rich and eco-sensitive coastline. Follow the production and funding process on their Facebook page; in the meantime, here's the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHckNAVmRbo Also about mining, on the other tip of the continent, is Tunisian filmmaker Sami Tlili’s Cursed be the Phosphate, which tells the story of the 2008 revolts in the Gafsa mining basin, and more particularly in the town of Redayef. Tlili suggests these protests were an important precursor to the country's 2011 Revolution: http://vimeo.com/51321241
Mercy Mercy is the latest instalment in what seems to have become a business itself: documentaries on (Ethiopian) adoptions gone wrong. Somewhat grandiose production quote: "Inspired by tales of globalisation such as Iñárritu's Babel, [the film] also draws on the epic style of Fridthjof 
Film's Armadillo." Here's a video interview with Katrine Riis Kjær, the Danish maker of the film. Judging by the few comments on the film's website, it seems to have left first viewers perplexed. No trailer yet.
Kinshasa Mboka Te is a Congolese-Belgian "documentary road-movie" (directed by Douglas Ntimasiemi) set in the streets of Kinshasa, weaving together personal interviews, music and animation: http://vimeo.com/28147224
Sudanna al Habib ("Our Beloved Sudan"), by director Taghreed Elsanhouri, "takes the historical trajectory of a nation from birth in 1956 to its death or transmutation into two separate states in 2011 and within this structure it interlaces a public and a private story. Inviting key political figures to reflexively engage with the historical trajectory of the film while observing an ordinary mixed race family caught across the divides of a big historical moment as they try to make sense of it and live through it" (source: again, the film's Facebook page -- it's remarkable how many films on a smaller budget make good use of this platform). Here's a recent interview with the director. There are a few first reviews available online (here and here).
Maffé Tiga (Peanut Butter Stew) is a short fiction film by Senegalese-Guinean director Mohamed Dione: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXT2ja_7Lxc (If you have some bandwidth to spare, you can watch the film in full here.) We Never Give Up II is the follow-up documentary to a first film by the same title, produced in 2002, which highlighted the exclusion of survivors by the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and the battle for final reparations by those included. Ten years later, the Khulumani Support Group continues its campaign for comprehensive and inclusive reparations from the South African Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, and from multinationals that aided apartheid. (If you're in Cape Town this month, the documentary will screen at the Baxter Theatre Concert Hall.)
And information about Ode In Blood is sparse for now, but with this kind of synopsis, and a trailer like the one below, it can hardly go wrong. Director is South African Rea Rangaka: http://vimeo.com/52419118

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfwAY64UX8o We should start numbering these bonus music breaks. First up, above, from Kenya: the Large Gang, who claim to be "a lifestyle," or at least more than a music group. Also from Nairobi (H/T "urban soul" blog GetMziki), the Grandpa Records family (basically a group of artists that are signed to the label) doesn't take itself too seriously. Refreshing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpkoZ4wLqgI Coupé-décalé from Côte d'Ivoire in front of a green screen with beats by DJ Arafat (check the hilarious virtual guitar halfway into the video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UjGb1th2EU A new and dreamy video for Ghanaian singer Efya: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wEjJPnEXRY You're familiar with Mensa by now, so you know what to expect. File under Good Music (seriously) / Humor / No Further Comment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHGTMjUlEtQ According to South African rapper Jack Parow, Afrikaans (the language) is Dead. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2UdJhqVsc8 But that's of course not quite what he means, if you listen closely to the lyrics. Another Afrikaans rapper, also from Cape Town, is HemelBesem. Not sure what's up with the Tennessee reference at the start here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AggsV5oJVDM Switching gears: South London rapper Corynne Elliott aka Speech Debelle's living for the message: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-ZWxyy-DNc I've been listening to Salif Keita's excellent new record this week. It's produced by Philippe Cohen Solal (from Argentinian Gotan Project). Here they talk a bit about the recording (also introducing Esperanza Spalding) -- the recurring song in the background is stand-out track 'C'est Bon, C'est Bon', a collaboration with Roots Manuva: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xUNbPoixK0 And finally, Seu Jorge has uploaded to his YouTube channel the complete concert he gave a year ago at the Quinta Da Boa Vista park in Rio de Janeiro at the occasion of the Dia da Consciência Negra. It was a star-studded affair (what a band!). Here's Seu Jorge jamming with Caetano Veloso: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4DL2p5ErV8

Here's another list of 10 films in the making or already finished. Two long fiction features to start with. Dakar Trottoirs (directed by Hubert Laba Ndao; left) has "surrealist characters of a paradoxical theatre intermingling in the heart of the city." Sounds real. There's a write-up on the shooting of the film and a short interview with the director over at the curiously titled Africa is not a country blog (part of Spanish newspaper El País's network). No trailer yet but check the film's Facebook page for production stills, and you'll find a short making-of reel here. Next up, Andalousie, Mon Amour ("Andalusia, my love") is Moroccan actor Mohamed Nadif's directing debut, promoted as a comedy about migration. This one does have a trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1zvtt_AoG4 Three short films: Nada Fazi ("It's inevitable") by João Miller Guerra and Filipa Reis is set in and engaging with the Casal of Boba neighbourhood (Lisbon, Portugal) where the majority of inhabitants is of Cape Verdian origin: http://vimeo.com/36473336 Another Namibian short (see last week's list for more Namibian references) is 100 Bucks, directed by Oshosheni Hiveluah. You have to admire the Babylonic summing up of featured languages: English / Afrikaans / Otjiherero / Nama-Damara / Slang -- with English subtitles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p70jwhg9Zfk Coming of age fable Asad, directed by Bryan Buckley, was shot in South Africa (as a stand-in for Somalia), with a cast of Somali refugees. The film's been raking in awards since it started circulating at international film festivals. Below's the trailer, while we wait for new films on or from Somalia that are not about pirates: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7kqVqhnUbs And 5 documentaries. One that showed at Bristol's Afrika Eye Film Festival earlier this month: State of Mind, directed by Djo Tunda wa Munga (the trailer comes with a dramatic introduction and ominous muzak, but I don't know of many other films engaging with anthropological, psychological -- or whatever you'd like to name it -- discussions about the potential effectiveness of applying old-school western psychotherapy in African contexts): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFOX5iSorsI There's also !Xun Electronica by filmmaker Paul Ziswe. Synopsis: "[multi-instrumentalist, jazz musician and producer] Pops Mohamed travels to the [South African] Northern Cape to the San community of Platfontein where he sets up a recording studio -- and through the lyrics of the youth performed in !Xun and Khwe, as well as through the songs of the elders, a portrait emerges of this unique place": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdmiVF6_Pco Outros Rituais Mais ou Menos is a film by Jorge António about a contemporary dance company from Luanda, Angola. Check Buala for a photo series by Kostadin Luchansky on the company's latest production. Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D4QiVvRk54 Toindepi -- Where are we headed? (Reflections from a Discarded Generation) focuses on life in Zimbabwe as seen through the eyes of More Blessing who lives in Hatcliffe Extension, a slum neigbourhood North of Harare, part of a city where residents have been victims of forced evictions campaigns. Here are some rushes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-w2AZXgBvY And Shattered Pieces of Peace: South African director Dlamini Nonhlanhla’s first feature length documentary (prod. Sakhile Dlamini) tells the story of a mother whose relationship with her daughter crumbles following her public declaration of her homosexuality and HIV+ status: [vimeo=http://vimeo.com/41291127 w=640&h-480]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWwbE50GR6A This summer's Fuse ODG #ANTENNADANCE competition ("one person controlling the other using azonto movements") courtesy of the Antenna smash hit resulted in some wild entries (Google it; H/T Jacquelin Kataneksza). Above: #TeamLONDON. And more good moves in the video for Congolese artist Lexxus Legal's 'Petits Congolais' (off his "music record for kids"): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJjg47PCKsE Early Sages Poètes de la Rue member Zoxea, repping Benin (his dad, Jules Kodjo, used to play for the national football team): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxUseCgMmgQ A collaboration between Danay Mariney and Kobi Onyame, who grew up between Accra (where he was born) and London, now based in Scotland. Video was shot in South Africa: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Or4nw2OykQ Tapping that London connection, here's a dreamy video for Maka Agu (aka Ti2bs): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd-41F_wNpU From Queijas (Portugal), new material by video artist, slam poet, MC and beatmaker Alexandre Francisco Diaphra (who goes by many names and claims many locations, among them Pecixe Island, Guinea-Bissau): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9LqTXMdrKE Promo video (interviews + outtakes) for the recently released Fangnawa Experience album, a collaboration between Burkina Faso-born Korbo (and his French music collective Fanga) and Moroccan Gnawa master Abdallah Guinéa (with his band Nasse Ejadba): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bhxkM_IGM4 There's also a new video for the Sierra Leonean Black Street Family, shot in Freetown. Hustling and tustling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT8u1YlO0D0 And to slow it all down a bit: two singer-song writers to end. A new video for South African Nomhle Nongoge's 'Ubuntu Bhako' (references: soul, Eastern Cape, Simphiwe Dana, Zahara): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zfc4tUGrTkA And Birmingham-based Laura Mvula's live session for Hunger TV makes us look forward to hearing her debut album: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8JndAGyirE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_6fAI5pGcg And by 'African' we mean -- made by African or diaspora directors, Africa-themed, or set in Africa. Don't spend too much time pondering about that definition though. First up this week is Re-Emerging: The Jews of Nigeria, a documentary film (trailer above) by Jeff L. Lieberman about Nigerian Igbos who have adopted Judaism. (William Miles wrote a book about the same topic: Jews of Nigeria: An Afro-Judaic Odyssey; here's an interview with Williams about his work.) Not unrelated to the film above, I came across this headline recently: "Moroccan film on Jewish Berbers sparks debate." The film, Tinghir-Jersusalem: Echoes from the Mellah, is a documentary by French-Moroccan director Kamal Hachkar about the history of the Jewish Berbers of the small Moroccan mountain town of Tinghir who left during the 1950s and 1960s to resettle in Israel. The film is available in full (with French subtitles) on YouTube but here's the English trailer: http://vimeo.com/37479002
Next up, Les Mécréants ("The Infidels") is a Swiss-Moroccan production, directed by Mohcine Besri. The trailer is puzzling, and so is the synopsis: "On the order of their spiritual leader, three young Islamists kidnap a group of actors who are about to go on tour with their latest show. When the kidnappers arrive at the place of detention, they find themselves cut off from their base. A 7-day no exit situation [ensues], in which both sides are forced to live together, confront each other and challenge their mutual prejudices." We'll have to watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34BKIrhGGiI There's a couple of interesting film events happening this week. One of them this weekend in Namibia. Details here. Among the films that will be screened is Try, a short directed by Joel Haikali. Synopsis: 8 hours in Windhoek: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEIuxSGxRVk Showing at the Afrikamera festival in Berlin this week (which has a focus on 'African women on and behind the screen') is Ramata, the first feature film by Congolese director Léandre-Alain Baker. The film is set in Dakar (Senegal). No English trailer yet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-6AhBdAkvM Ici on Noie les Algériens ("We drown Algerians here") -- also showing at Afrikamera -- revisits October 17, 1961, the day when thousands of Algerians marched through Paris against the curfew imposed on them; a demonstration that saw a brutal crackdown by the French police leaving many demonstrators killed. Combining narrative and unpublished archives, the film traces the different stages of events, revealing the strategies and methods implemented at the highest level of the State (manipulation of public opinion, the systematic challenging of all charges, etc). Here's a trailer (in French): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj9ScGgb2GQ Remember François Hollande only recently became the first French president to recognize the State's involvement, 51 years after the facts. (More and longer fragments here and here.) Have You Heard From Johannesburg dates from 2010 but just last month won the Primetime Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. It is a series of seven documentaries, produced and directed by Connie Field, chronicling the history of the global anti-apartheid movement, that took on South Africa’s apartheid state and its international supporters who at the time considered South Africa an ally in the Cold War. The film's website has a wide-ranging gallery of photos, profiles and links. The trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU48nQUEYtI The Dream of Shahrazad is a documentary film by South African director Francois Verster (remember his excellent 'Sea Point Days', which you can watch here if you haven't), "[locating] political expression before, during and after the Egyptian revolution – and also within recent times in Turkey and Lebanon – within a broader historical and cultural framework: that of storytelling and music." The film has recently been accepted for the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam’s co-production and co-financing Forum which hopefully means the production can be brought to a succesful end. There are more fragments on its website, but here's the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEoiviVbTDk Clara di Sabura is a film directed by Guinean José Lopes, inspired by Mussá Baldé's famous poem with the same title -- a comment on the lives of youth in (the streets of) Bissau. The opening scenes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkfUqgssiek There's no English subtitled version available yet, but if your Kriol (or Portuguese) is up to standard, you can watch the next parts of the film here. And finally, another documentary. L'horizon cassé ("The broken horizon") is a film by Anaïs Charles-Dominique and Laurent Médéa about the 1991 riots that broke out in the Cauldron, a neighbourhood of Saint Denis (La Réunion), after the popular TV channel Télé Freedom was shut down by the state and its founder, Camille Sudre, was taken to court. There's no trailer yet, but here's an interview with both the directors (in French), including some archival footage from the film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGLJSD9bqxU In other festival news, there are encouraging reports from Amsterdam, where the Africa in the Picture film festival gets to keep some of its subsidies. And kicking off today in Nairobi is the OUT Film Festival, with a screening of I Am Mary, a documentary film about Mary, a volunteer with one of the GALCK member groups, Minority Women in Action, and an active participant in the fight for human rights for LGBTI persons in Kenya.