Sanuya
“Sanuya”, written and performed by Modibo “Bastin” Diabate featuring Mah Bara Soumano and Konté B, arranged by Lamine Soumano, produced by Studio Mali, and filmed by Spencer Orey.
“Sanuya” is a song about about cleaning up the trash in Bamako that draws attention to trash and pollution in the city. It’s mostly in Bambara with some French, and it’s around six minutes long. Usually in Bamako I do my best to see through the pollution into the underlying beauty of the city, and trust me, there is a lot there that is beautiful. However, this time, I got to focus directly on trash and make things into a giant chaotic trash party, shooting all but one scene without my tripod while riding around on motorcycles with a big group of rappers in the Bamako neighborhood of Djicoroni Para. Unfortunately, it’s the hot season right now, so it’s nearly 115 degrees F every day, and the light is always incredibly strong, making filming especially difficult. However, with help, we found some dirty places to film: trash piles, burning trash piles, open sewers, meat markets, and more.
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Obamako
I left for Mali a few days after the November election, and when I arrived in Bamako, Mali was in the middle of Obama-fever. People all over would ask me if I was French, and after I told them I was from the US, I received huge smiles, slaps on the back, many thumbs ups and lots of “Et ca va Obama??”s.
When the the president was inaugurated in January, things remained just as excited around me. Then, I began to notice President Obama’s picture, already in plain sight, become even more prominent. Official Obama fabric was released and started to be used as everything from pajama pants, button-up shirts, and table cloths. Obama t-shirts and Obama buttons became popular as well.
It wasn’t until about a month after that that I began to collect pictures of all things Obama-related.
So then, Obamako, a city in which Obama’s election inspired nearly everybody and continues today to resonate every single day. It’s incredible to see what the election did in terms of earning respect for Americans in Mali. Talking to musicians, people would tell me that they felt like they were suddenly able to do things, that having a US President with an African father meant that their own futures were brighter. People I asked mentioned that they never expected France to do anything like that, and that the US continues to be the site of hope. Incredible.
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Making The Video
Bastin
My latest project has been helping make a music video for a rapper named “Bastin”.
Two weeks ago, my guitar teacher introduced me to Modibo “Bastin” Diabate, who is trying to make his debut here in Bamako with his song “Sanuya” (which I should mention, was arranged by Lamine Soumano and produced by Studio Mali).
Bastin handed me a French translation of his lyrics, and we sat down to listen to his song. The next day, I filmed him in concert as part of a big hip-hop show organized in honor of an album debut for Malian megastar rapper Ramses Damarifa of the Mali’s #1 hip-hop group Tata Pound. The show was great, with the series of consistently-solid opening acts only exceeded by Ramses himself. However, the footage I managed to get while trying not to get trampled by the excited crowd wasn’t quite enough to stand on its own.
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FESPACO Film Festival
Well, I had the wonderful opportunity to travel to the neighboring West African country of Burkina Faso last week to see some of the film festival FESPACO in the capital city of Ouagadougou. This was the 21st offering of the festival as well as the 40th anniversary, so while I was hesitant to leave Mali, who could say no? I saw a whirlwind of 13 films in 4 days, some shorts and even one animated film. This year’s festival was dedicated to the multi-talented Senegalese director Ousmane Sembène, who unfortunately passed away in 2007 and was much missed at the festival. Africultures put out a truly beautiful biography booklet, which was available for purchase at the festival. If I got you thirsty for even more information, check this out.
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EST-CE QUE CA VA?!
Over here, that’s ‘Are you ready to rock?‘
This past weekend was the much-anticipated Festival sur le Niger. It was just as monumental as I had hoped it would be.
Festival Boat
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Up to four awards will be available to pursue projects around an aspect of international contemporary or popular music as a cultural force for expression. Preference will be given to creative projects that are conveyed in a dynamic fashion and are accompanied by a feasible plan. In addition to presenting unique projects on music as a global force for mutual understanding. Deadline to apply is March 1, 2012.