IN 2012 music disappeared overnight in Mali, theoretically.
It was all in the wake of a jihadist takeover, but rather than lay down their instruments, Mali’s musicians fought back, and that’s the subject of “They Will Have to Kill Us First: Malian Music in Exile”, an extraordinary documentary to be seen here on June 3.
It’s the opening movie of the Human Rights Arts & Film Festival.
The film features Damon Albarn (Blur), Brian Eno and Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and one of the world’s newest bands, Songhoy Blues.
The highly-focused festival, now in its ninth year, is committed to showcasing human stories from around the world.
In “Land Grabbing”, screening on June 4, director Kurt Langbein takes us into grain fields and tomato hothouses, investors and lobbyists, the EU Parliament in Brussels, a five-star hotel in Dubai and dispossessed land users in what amounts to “a lesson in neo-colonialism”. Farm owner, workers and locals tell him of the dark side of the story; land taken, destroyed homes, felled rainforests, intimidation and exploitation.
Finally, on June 5 comes the Special Jury Award-winner at Sundance 2016, “The Bad Kids”. Set in a Mojave Desert high school it shows educators and principal Vonda Viland using empathy, life skills, and constancy of a caring adult as tools to give at-risk students command of their fate. The distinctive camerawork allows direct insight into America’s most pressing education problem, poverty.
Human Rights Arts & Film Festival Canberra, Palace Electric Cinema, NewActon, June 3-5. Bookings to hraff.org.au
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