- event type:WOMEX 20 Film
- date:24 Sep 2020 - 08 Oct 2020
- time:12:00 - 00:00
- venue:Online
- event posted by:Piranha Arts
Links
The film was available to stream online on the virtualWOMEX platform from the 24 September - 8 October 2020 with your WOMEX 20 Digital Registration.
Directed by Jeremy Marre
50 mins | UK, 1988
Nigeria has produced some of the most diverse and exciting musicians to have come to the attention of Western audiences. Stars like King Sunny Ade, Fela Kuti, Sonny Okoson, I. K. Dairo and Ebenezer Obey have helped to make Nigerian music a key component of much popular music. Konkombe is a unique and intimate journey into the Nigerian music scene – that endlessly fascinating world of hypnotic sounds, rhythms and melodies.
The film provides revealing insights into Juju, Afro-Beat, Highlife, Afro-Pop and Lagos street music. It takes us into recording studios, to a party given by the King of Lagos, into the inner sanctum of major stars, even to Fela and his 26 wives hiding from their persecutors. The programme finally travels to the deserts of the north to record – for the first time – the musical rituals and spirit ceremonies that underpin this kaleidoscopic culture.
Jeremy Marre (1943-2020) made over 100 films during a fifty year career which spanned the globe, documenting and promoting the music and culture of the marginalised, and shedding new light on the lives of those on whom he turned his camera. Marre’s early work included the seminal 14 part series, Beats of the Heart and his final film, Count Basie: Through His Own Eyes, was completed in 2019. It is currently being broadcast around the world. It is now available to stream on Amazon and will be shown by the BBC on 24 October 2020.
Featuring: Fela Kuti, King Sonny Ade, Sonny Okosun, I. K. Dairo, Ebenezer Obey, the Lijadu Sisters, and the drummers and ritual performers of the North.
Film Contact: Harcourt Films