The Last Song Before the War
Nov 22, 2014
(Kiley Kraskouskas, United States/Mali, 2013, 90 min)
Join us for a post-screening conversation with film subjects JeConte & a member of the Mali Allstars!
This feature-length documentary captures the power, beauty, and uncertain future of Mali’s annual Festival in the Desert. Told through stunning high definition footage captured at the 2011 festival, the film is a lyrical road trip through Mali, the birthplace of the blues, to the legendary city of Timbuktu where Grammy-award winning musicians play their hearts out in the dunes of the Sahara.
Shockingly, the music and the festival were silenced in 2012 when the violent occupation of Northern Mali by extremists destabilized the entire Sahel region. To date, the festival and hundreds of thousands of refugees remain in exile.