Monday was a special day at ZIFF 2015, with a unique and memorable day of film and music in perfect harmony. July 20th saw the screening of the Moussa Diallo biopic, Sound Tracks of Life Moussa Diallo – followed by a live performance from Moussa Diallo himself.
The film screening was introduced by Diallo himself, and filmmaker Helle Toft, who elaborated on the personal yet universal themes in the film; reconciliation and forgiveness. Diallo’s story may be unique, having left Mali at age 17 and landing up in Denmark, soon becoming a major star, however the themes of the film resonate for most people.
The live performance from Diallo that followed the screening was even more powerful with the audience having experienced his story through the medium of film. The interconnectedness of these two mediums of communication and their ability to touch people is one of the cornerstones of ZIFF, as Martin Mhando explains.
It is very important to recognise the synergies of the links between sound and images. ZIFF has always had a component of music in the festival, which we have cultivated over the years. If you want to see how many filmmakers grew out of video clips, just go and ask them to give you a copy of their CV, then you will see that they started from video clips and then graduated to making feature films,” he said.
“What we want to do at ZIFF is show the links between business and film, between sound and film,” he added.
Sound Tracks of Life: Moussa Diallo will screen again at ZIFF on Thursday evening at Zan Cinema at 19:00.
The festival, in fact, is screening a host of films with music related content, including Shehnai about the journey of a Pakistani musician, Abazezi about a Ugandan dance crew Tabu Flo, and Maramosa that follows young musician, Mandela, and his band as they struggle to promote peace ahead of the hotly contested 2013 Kenyan presidential election.
ZIFF ANNOUNCES CLOSING FILM
ZIFF is also proud to announce as its closing film, another perfect example of the synergies between film and music – I Shot Bi Kidude, Andy Jones’ follow up to, As Old as my Tongue, his biographical documentary on this legendary Zanzibari artist.
Jones will arrive at ZIFF on Thursday, fresh from this year’s Durban International Film Festival where the film previewed last year. “Getting the film in front of audiences at DFM was a huge leap forwards in the film’s development” says Jones. “Obviously we had to hold back the official premiere for Zanzibar, but it’s fantastic to be here mentoring projects [for Doc Station, and the Hot Docs Blue Ice Fund] and then heading to Zanzibar in one trip. It’s a great symbol of the growing collaboration between festivals in the region.”
After visiting Zanzibar every year for almost a decade, Jones hadn’t seen Kidude for almost three years. In August 2012, word reached the UK that East Africa’s most famous musical icon had been kidnapped. It wasn’t long before Andy was back in Zanzibar, to get to the bottom of the story. He began to untangle a web of rumours, started by a jealous nephew who had taken Kidude from her home in the belief that unscrupulous music promoters were making millions from his ageing aunt.
Just weeks after the drama unravelled before the camera, with South African Natalie Haarhoff behind the lens, the world’s oldest singer died, at a reported age of over a hundred years old. Jones frantically departed his home in Newcastle arriving at Heathrow just minutes before the last flight to Nairobi was scheduled to leave. He arrived in Zanzibar just in time to be at her funeral which brought the island to a standstill.
“I Shot Bi Kidude, is my account of what happened at the end of Bi Kidude’s life. As with any story, there are many versions of the truth. There are of course elements that are hard for an outsider to grasp, but I hope that there is also an insight which fresh eyes can bring. What emerges for me is a sense of the celebratory power of music, and the importance of doing those things which bring us happiness while we still can.” Explains Andy Jones.
I Shot Bi Kidude screens Sunday July 26th. 7:15pm at the Old Fort Amphitheatre.
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