Agadez, the Music & the Rebellion – A Documentary

A documentary about Omara Moctar “Bombino”. Presented by Bloom 2019 and Downtown Sudbury as part of the Junction North International Documentary Film Festival 2019.

Film starts at 8:40pm, runtime 70 minutes.

Make sure to catch Bombino at Bloom 2019: Bombino, Shad & The Battle of Santiago. www.nlfb.ca/bloom

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUcePTVPkZU&t=35s
Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/junction-north-international-documentary-film-festival-2019-tickets-53471771508#tickets

Plot:
Almost four years in the making, the film follows the rise of Omara Moctar known as “Bombino,” a twenty nine year old Tuareg musician who is becoming known as one of the great new guitarists and performers from Africa. Influenced by the legendary Ali Farka Toure and Jimi Hendrix, Bombino is cult hero at home in Niger where he embodies the new generation of Tuareg.

The film also tells the story of his people, the Tuareg, an ancient Saharan nomadic tribe who, since the 12th century, have linked North Africa and West Africa, guiding their camel caravans across the desert, spreading art and music from Egypt to Mali. The Tuareg guard their independence and personal freedoms fiercely and have taken up arms against the government three times in the past two decades.

During the most recent Tuareg rebellion the military executed two of his musicians, driving Bombino into exile for several years. He has now returned home to Agadez, a remote and storied city at the edge of the Sahara. With the Sultan’s blessing, he staged a concert outside the Grande Mosque to celebrate the end of the war and the beginning of a lasting peace. The Tuareg are a people in flux, caught between modernity and tradition; Bombino’s songbook is a lyrical manual for both change and stability in a dangerous and uncertain future.