Sounds of the World: the Ethnomusical Film Festival

October 20-23, 2016: Images & Sounds of the World: Ethnomusical Film Festival: Spazio Alfieri, via dell’Ulivo 6, Florence. For further information, visit www. multiculti.it.

In an effort to share the world’s boundless assortment of music, Multi Culti and Fondazione Sistema Toscana present the ninth edition of il Festival del Film Etnomusicale. During a brief but vibrant four-day span, this captivating festival will introduce its spectators to world music and culture compiled from Australia, Bosnia, Cape Verde, China, Ethiopia, Mongolia, Paraguay, and Vanuatu. The festival consists of 10 documentary films and a concert where Karin Mensah, a Cape Verdean, will present “Cape Verde in Jazz.”

The following films are in English with Italian subtitles:

The festival will commence on Thursday (Oct. 20, 9:30 pm) by presenting Miles Ahead, a film dedicated to the unusual life and eccentric talent of the renowned jazz player, Miles Davis. In the film, Don Cheadle serves as director and gives a compelling performance as Miles Davis. While this film combines both factual and fictitious elements, Don Cheadle makes clear that, “I did not want to make a movie of Miles Davis, I wanted to make a film that sounds like Miles Davis.” Made 25 years after the death of the artist, this film presents his riveting story as he attempts to re-emerge as a trumpet player after a five-year absence where he had been exposed to the unforgiving world of drug abuse and insanity. Set in the city of New York, the movie attempts to capture the turbulent return of Miles Davis and stresses the legacy that he left to the world of jazz.

Friday (Oct. 21, 9 pm) will feature Neville Morgan’s documentary Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble. The documentary explains how this collaboration between musicians from across the globe was not only possible but also necessary. Presenting the moving stories of pilgrimage and the flight from war-torn countries of 50 musicians, this documentary features renowned musicians such as the cellist Yo-Yo Ma, clarinetist Kinan Ameh, and world-class rock star Wu Man.

On Saturday (Oct. 22, 6:30 pm) Mira Erdevički gives an inside look at the founding of the Mostar Sevdah Reunion Band at the height of the Bosnian war in her documentary Sevdah: The Bridge that Survived. Alluding to the destruction of bridges during the war as tactical methods used to cripple the mobility of opposing forces; the documentary presents the idea that musicians are able to construct their own bridges through the creation of their melodies. These musicians are now dispersed across Europe 10 years later, but continue to share their music, creating music that could surpass any physical limitation,

On Sunday (Oct. 23, 6 pm), using information gathered from local inhabitants, David A. Harris created his documentary Small Path Music. Foraging the mountains of northern Laos, Laurent Jeanneau, steered by her independent spirit, collects a great assortment of songs belonging to the scattered ethnic minorities of the region. By recording the musicians in their natural habitat, she is able to witness firsthand the culture of the communities she aims to depict. Filled with songs dedicated to rituals, love, epics, and interpretations of the world they live in, the documentary treats the audience to an original representation of these hidden cultures.

The following films are in their original language with Italian subtitles.

Friday (Oct. 21) begins with the documentary Mongolian Bling by Benji Binks, drawing attention to the modernization of Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. This documentary provides a unique perspective into ancient Mongolian culture by using the voice of young rappers and traditional musicians alike. Exploring the slums hidden within the capital to the luxurious visitor attractions, this documentary sheds light on communities that globalization benefits and those that it leaves behind. The sounds and sights of a city rich in history and culture complement the documentary’s narrative.

Following Binks, on Friday (Oct. 21) the Roaring Abyss, by Quino Piñero, gives voice to the 80 different ethnic groups spread across Ethiopia. Piñero introduces his audience to the sounds of traditional instruments that are passed down through generations. After capturing field recordings for two years, Solysombra Recordings and Sheba Sound present this “audiovisual poem.”

Waraluck Hiransrettawat and David Reeve begin the Saturday (Oct. 22) program with their documentary Y/Our Music. Considered home to the most diverse music scene in Asia, Thailand combines popular western influences with its own traditional music. Named the Best Musical Film by Southwest in Austin in 2015, the documentary features musicians from the impoverished countryside and emerging bands in the bustling cities. Through the collaboration by both this local and British director, the audience learns to appreciate the authenticity that these musicians seek to convey through their music. Their reluctance to conform to global trends does not derive from mere stubbornness but from a deep desire to use their independence to preserve a vanishing and irreplaceable culture.

Concluding Saturday’s (Oct. 22) schedule is the documentary Landfill Harmonic by Brad Allgood and Graham Townsley. This captivating documentary brings its audience to the garbage landfills of Paraguay but instead of presenting a gloomy narrative, it inspires its spectators with the story of a band of young musicians that have constructed their instruments with garbage from landfills. Giving the saying ‘one person’s trash is another persons treasure’ a new meaning, this band gives life once again to disposed articles of trash by using them to create beautiful melodies. Undaunted by bright lights, Landfill Harmonic has performed in arenas and halls, teaching generations of children born in impoverished conditions that they too can invent their own future.

On Sunday (Oct. 23) the festival begins with the documentary Vanuatu: Women’s Water Music by Tim Col. The documentary is able to escape the traditional western narrative and directly expresses the colloquial music and culture. Shedding light on music that pairs ancient tradition and present-day tribal culture in the tropical islands near Australia, this documentary includes performances of the Na Mag Dance and Ne Leang, which serve as charming precursors to the water music.

Additionally, on Sunday (Oct. 23, 9 pm) Oscar Martinez’s fictional documentary Kontinuasom, intends to depict the relationship between musical culture and social reality of Cape Verde. Moved by the important and vital, yet sometimes criticized, human migration, Spain and Cape Verde collaborate to unveil the external and internal struggles that these communities face. This film introduces Betty, a ballet dancer that is offered the opportunity to perform in Lisbon but must leave her home in Cape Verde in order to do so. Following Betty as she struggles to choose between her career and leaving her homeland, the film accurately depicts the obstacles and sacrifices related to immigration.

Following Martinez’s film “Capo Verde in Jazz,” a live concert featuring Karin Mensah, combines the musical styles morna, coladeira, and funana to uncover the existing connections between Africa, Latin America, and Portugal. As cultural boundaries between territories disappear, Mensah is able to guard Cape Verde’s originality while also demonstrating an immersion in jazz and soul music.  (omar galicia)