[nyfoil-l] films on music from islamic world
Sekhar Ramakrishnan
rr6 at columbia.edu
Wed Mar 30 15:05:42 CST 2005
[islamic world apparently includes india.]
http://www.symphonyspace.org/genres/genrePage.php?genreId=2
has the full schedule with thumbnail pictures.
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SYMPHONY SPACE & WORLD MUSIC INSTITUTE PRESENT
REEL RHYTHMS
The 2nd New York World Music Film Festival:
Music from the Islamic World
APRIL 3-26, 2005
Sunday afternoons and Tuesday evenings
All evenings are double features or epic-length programs and in
original language(s) with English subtitles.
Tickets: $10 (Members: $6; Students/Seniors: $8)
Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre at
PETER NORTON SYMPHONY SPACE
2537 Broadway at 95th Street
Box Office: Tues Sun, noon 7:00 pm
Phone: 212.864.5400, Tues Sun, 11:00 am 7:00 pm
Online: www.symphonyspace.org <http://www.symphonyspace.org>
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Renowned for its thematic film programming as well as its eclectic
music and dance presentations, Symphony Space teams for the
second year with World Music Institute, the nations leading presenter
of traditional music and dance from around the world. They will
present REEL RHYTHMS: The 2nd New York World Music Film
Festival: Music from the Islamic World.
Presented as part of the Cultural World of Islam Festival, this series
expansively explores the musical traditions of the Islamic world.
REEL RHYTHMS showcases documentaries and feature films about
Malian blues, Qawwali Sufi music, Arab classical music, Iranian
classical and pop music, African-Indian Sufi music, Bosnian blues and
Balkan songs, as well as seven short Moroccan films on wedding
music, trance music and chants, womens music and more! Among
the rarely seen films are US premieres from Iran and Bosnia, as well
as a newly restored, complete and uncensored version of a 1935
melodrama from Bali.
“The Cultural World of Islam Festival attempts to expand Western
notions of Islam beyond the religiouswith whichit is typically
associated in our culture,” said Isabel Soffer, Associate Director of
World Music Institute. “These films speak to the incredible diversity of
geography, cultural expression and ethnicity Islam embraces. Were
pleased to present this rare snapshot of Islamic culture.”
REEL RHYTHMS is curated by Isabel Soffer/World Music Institute
with Yuko Yamamoto and produced by Ed Budz.
----------------------------------------------------------- -------------
(double feature) Sunday, April 3 @ 2:00 pm The Voice of Iran:
Mohammad Reza Shajarian 2002. Christian Braad Thomsen. 98 min.
English. US Premiere!
A spotlight on the great classical singer Mohammad Reza Shajarian,
whose music reaches back 800 years into Persian history. Shajarian,
a master of improvisation known for his deeply rooted spirituality and
sensitivity to the mood of the moment, creates music of astounding
beauty. To be in Shajarians audience is to be transported back to
Persian courts of old, ruled once more by the wit and poignancy of the
greatest Iranian poetsRumi, Sadi and Hafez. Between songs,
Shajarian talks about his inspiration, explains the meaning of the
songs and discusses the poets behind them. (screened again on
Tuesday, April 5 @ 8:30 pm)
4:15 pm
Googoosh: Irans Daughter
2000. Farhad Zamani. 158 min. English and Farsi, with English
subtitles.
She became the best-selling pop singer in Iran, only to be branded a
temptress, and forbidden from performing in front of men silenced by
the 1979 Islamic Revolution. This thoughtful, highly entertaining
portrait of the magnificent diva and actress Googoosh features
interviews with friends and family, as well as clips from the countless
performances and films that comprised the great performers tragically
truncated career. Googoosh places the divas phenomenal
successcomparable only to the Wests cult of Elvisin its political and
historical context by providing a look at the status of women in Iran
before and after the revolution. Winner Vancouver Iranian Film
Festival.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(double feature) Tuesday, April 5
@ 7:00 pm Nusrat: A Voice from Heaven
2000. Giuseppe Asaro. 78 min. English.
Nusrat brings us the greatest modern interpreter of mystical Qawwali
music, the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. What emerges, through
interviews with Nusrat himself, and with the musicians who helped
bring his work to Western audiences, is more than just the portrait of
one man. Nusrat is also a probing exploration of the philosophy
underlying the Sufi music of Pakistan. A performance by Nusrats
nephew, Rahat, provides eloquent testimonial to the endurance of that
legacy.
8:30 pm
The Voice of Iran: Mohammad Reza Shajarian
(see description on April 3 @ 2:00 pm)
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Sunday, April 10 @ 2:00 pm Morocco, Body and Soul A series of
short films, screened with one intermission.
Izza Genini. French, with English subtitles. The descendants of black
slaves, a female troubadour, and villagers from the most remote
heights of the Atlas Mountainsthese unlikely groups constitute
Moroccos very best musicians. They were the countrys best-kept
secret
until now. Director Izza Genini scoured the land to bring you
Moroccos most unusual, most powerful, most entrancing music in
seven fascinating portraits.
Airs in Berberland, Part I: Vibrations in the High Atlas 26 min. 1992. In
the lost heights of the Atlas Mountains, an entire village assembles,
come nightfall. The men, playing flute and drum, accompany the
haunting sound of the womens high polyphony. Once the music has
set the mood, the adersi begins, a rapturous dance in celebration of
the cosmos.
Airs in Berberland, Part II: Nuptials in the Middle Atlas 26 min. 1992.
Much is riding on this wedding. Two Berber tribes, the Zayane and
Ichker, have come together to perform the Asliand Taslitthe nuptials
of a mythical fiancé and fiancéethat will ensure abundance and fertility
for the year. Nuptials demonstrates that when a communitys
continued existence depends on the quality of song and dance, these
tend to be spectacular.
Aita 26 min. 1987. Though she has no official religious role, no
ceremony seems truly sanctified without the blessing of Fatna bent El
Hocines aitamystical outbursts of song. El Hocine, a celebrated
cheika, or female troubadour, is so popular in Morrocco that, from
time to time, she forgoes the Bedouin tent to perform, like a rockstar,
in jam-packed stadiums and concert halls.
Gnaouas 26 min. 1990. Black Africa flows in the veins of Morocco.
Originally brought in as slaves during the 15th century gold rush, the
Gnaouas gathered into brotherhoods to practice spirit possession and
exorcism, with rituals borrowing as much from pre-Islamic culture as
from the rites of African divinities. These ceremonies, accompanied
by the bass of the great hajhouj lute, the crackling of the metal
castanets, and the heavy beat of the drums, call for the mlouk, the
beneficent genie who will come down upon the dancer at the height of
his trance.
Hymns of Praise 26 min. 1987. One of the most sacred pilgrimages in
Morocco is a physically exhausting, emotionally challenging, nine-day
ceremony whose destination is the shrine of the founder of the Islamic
Kingdom of Morocco. The Sufi brotherhood of the Alamiyines leads
the pilgrims with strict discipline, but also extraordinary joy. The
inauguration ceremony takes the followers through more and more
breathless phases to an ecstatic state, and, for the rest of the week-
long journey, the exquisite rhythms of drums and oboes keep the
pilgrims energized.
Lutes and Delights 26 min. 1987. When the Muslims and Jews were
expelled from Spain, the wonders of Andalusia were not lost. Their
music took root in North Africa, their land of exile, and today has
earned Abdesakek Chekaras orchestra fame throughout Morocco.
His faithful interpretations of Arab-Andalusian music harkens back to
a time of tolerance, when Christians, Muslims, and Jews shared the
land.
Malhoune 26 min. 1989. Malhoune, the poetry of popular wisdom, is
expressed in musical sessions in Marrakech and Meknes. Similar to
classical poetry in its lyrical and rhythmic structures, the malhoune
mirrors everyday reality, hopes and fears.
----------------------------------------------------------- -------------
(double feature) Tuesday, April 12
@ 7:00 pm Je Chanterai Pour Toi (Ill Sing For You)
2001. Jacques Sarasin. 76 min. French and African dialects, with
English subtitles.
In the sixties, his was the voice of Malian independence: the blues
singer Boubacar “KarKar” Traoré was a national sensation, rousing
the country over the radio and on the dance floor. But years later, his
fortunes drastically reversed. Having sung so much of his music for
free, KarKar became impoverished, and was forced to abandon his
career to work as a tailor, and later as an immigrant worker in France.
Although his music continued to be heard in Parisian immigrant
shelters, on the weekendsback home, most thought him dead. A
music producers chance discovery allowed KarKar to rewrite the end
of an outsize careeras uplifting as it could be tragic.
8:30 pm
Festival in the Desert
2004. Lionel Brouet. 52 min. French, with English subtitles.
Festival in the Desert trudges deep into the Sahara for a one-of-a-kind
musical festival in celebration of Malis Touareg peoples. The festivals
exotic charm lured a diverse group of world-famous musicians, as
well as the most adventurous of music lovers. Live performances and
interviews with the festivals artists and inspired organizers bring this
unforgettable experience to life.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, April 17 @ 2:00 pm Marcel Khalife Voyageur 2004. Pierre
Dupouey.
200 min. Arabic and French, with English subtitles.
The life and music of Lebanese maestro Marcel Khalife, whose
extraordinary talents helped reinvent and revive Arab oud playing.
Khalife became the voyageurthe travelerthirty years ago, when the
wide acclaim earned by his innovative talent garnered him audiences
outside the Middle East, in Japan, Australia, the United States, Latin
America, Europe and Africa. Not content with reviving ancient
tradition, Khalife also gave birth to a popular new style of Near
Eastern ballet, the result of his fruitful collaboration with the Caracalla
Dance Troupe.
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(double feature) Tuesday, April 19
@ 7:00 pm The Bridge of Bosnian Blues (aka Sevdah: The Bridge
That Survived).
2004. Mira Erdevicki. 60 min. English and Bosnian with English
subtitles. US Theatrical Premiere!
At the height of Bosnian ethnic strife, a 500 year-old bridge was
destroyed in a symbolic act of hatred. The incident compelled the best
musicians from the regionrepresenting all ethnicitiesto get together
and sing the blues. As war raged around them, their music dared to
transcend the communal strife devastating their society. A decade
later, the regions remaining divisions decided these musicians of
courage to reunite, though widely scattered throughout the continent
by that time. Once again, their Bosnian blues reminded its listeners of
the deeper identity thatdespite recent historystill unites the political
entities of ex-Yugoslavia. A bittersweet true story.
8:15 pm
Whose is this Song? (Chia E Tazi Pesen?)
2003. Adela Peeva. 70 min. English narration. Bulgarian, Turkish,
Greek, Albanian, Bosnian, Macedonian and Serbian, with English
subtitles. US Premiere!
Searching for the origins of a folk song shed heard as a child, director
Adela Peeva embarks on an odyssey through the Balkans. Her
search is rewarded again and again, but reveals that reality is much
darker than memory she discovers the song in a myriad different
languages and styles; as love ditty, religious hymn, even military
march. The song is a testament to the cultural ties binding the regions
warring ethnicities. Alternately humorous and alarming, award-winning
Whose is this Song? illustrates the stubborn madness of nationalism.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(double feature) Sunday, April 24
@ 2:00 pm Legong: Dance of the Virgins
1935. Henry de la Falaise. 65min. Silent, with intertitles, and
orchestral score. Newly restored unedited, uncensored.
Set around a tragic Balinese love story, Legong has only recently
gained the appreciation it deserves in the 1930s, it was severely
censored because of its numerous topless dancers. Legong, which
was filmed entirely on location in Bali, captured the frenetic religious
dances, mystical parades, cockfighting, and everyday life of a now
vanished culture. A fascinating historical document, also of interest as
a rare example of a film shot in beautiful two-color Technicolor.
3:15 pm
Rasinah: The Enchanted Mask
2004. Rhoda Grauer. 57 min. Javanese and Indonesian, with English
subtitles.
A forbidden glimpse of the life of Rasinah, the legendary master of
Topeng Cirebon an ancient masked dance from West Java,
Indonesia. Rooted in Islamic mysticism, the spiritual significance of
the masks and dances was restricted to “specialist families,” who for
centuries passed on their esoteric heritage from generation to
generation. Making history, director Rhoda Grauer finally brings us
their story.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(double feature) Tuesday, April 26
@ 7:00 pm From Africa to India: Sidi Music in the Indian Ocean
Diaspora
2003. Amy Catlin-Jairazbhoy, Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy. 74 min. English.
The Sidis are a remarkable Indian community of African descent. This
film traces the whole Sidi journeybeginning when their Swahili and
Bantu ancestors set sail across the Indian Ocean, to their rise to great
political power during the Mughal period. But the main focus is on
todays Sidis, capturing their rich, hybrid traditionsrites involving
impressive coconut-smashing, ecstatic trance, fire-walking, and fire-
eating. Interviews with modern Sidis complement context provided by
scholars. From Africa
concludes with stunning concert highlights
from the first international Sidi music tour.
8:30 pm Colours of the Earth
2004. Shefali Bhushan. 60 min. English and Hindi, with English
subtitles.
A musical travelogue to India which explores an extraordinary range
of traditions from the deserts of Rajasthan to the Himalayas, from the
banks of the Ganges to Tagores Bengal. A gorgeous India rarely seen
or heard.
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Reel Rhythms is part of the Cultural World of Islam series and is
made possible in part by Arts International/The Doris Duke
Foundation for Islamic Art.
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DIRECTIONS Conveniently located at 2537 Broadway at 95th Street,
Symphony Space is easily accessible from the 96th Street and
Broadway subway stop on the 1, 2, 3 and 9 lines as well as the B and
C subway trains, which stop at 96th Street and Central Park West.
>From the B or C walk (or transfer to M96 or M106 bus) west three
blocks to Broadway, and then one block south. Situated at the
halfway mark between Midtown and Harlem, Symphony Space is 10
minutes from Times Square, 10 minutes from 125th Street, and 15
minutes fro m the West Village/Chelsea via the subway.
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BOX OFFICE Tickets for performances are available by visiting the
Symphony Space Box Office at Broadway and 95th Street, Tuesday-
Sunday, Noon to 7:00 pm, by calling 212.864.5400 Tuesday-Sunday,
11:00 am to 7:00 pm or on-line at www.symphonyspace.org.
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