Educational Media Reviews Online

Mali is a Francophone, West African country at the edge of the Sahara. Its best-known city, Timbuktu, is a byword for remoteness, but Mali has been a crossroads of culture for centuries, with a rich musical heritage. This film skillfully documents the preparations in 2011 for the eleventh Festival du Desert, performances at the festival itself, and the aftermath.

The beautiful Malian countryside, with its cities and villages and traditional mud walls and towers, contrasts tradition with modernity, as mules pull carts with auto wheels and kids kick soccer balls in the street. Musicians and the audience trek to the festival: Tuaregs on camel and musicians by air. Laborers struggle to set up the stage and move equipment in the sand. Interviews, many subtitled, include Manny Ansar, the festival organizer, and splendidly robed musicians whose backgrounds are brief or not given at all. The performers include locals and foreigners: Tinariwen, Leni Stern, Vieux Farka Touré, Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba, Khaira Arby, and Habib Koité. Astonishing performances on traditional and modern guitars and percussion confirm the often repeated statement that Mali is the home of the blues and rock and roll. French vocals intertwine with expressive and enthusiastic dance.

The month after the festival, al-Qaeda militants seized much of northern Mali. The filmmakers obviously support this festival, and much is made of Mali as a peaceful multicultural country and the festival, now in exile, as its embodiment.

There are no accompanying materials in print or on the disc. In some players, the film may begin automatically, bypassing the menu. More information is available on the film's web site.

Awards

• Best Music Documentary World Music and Independent Film Festival 2013