Day 2 @ MSPIFF 2016: 'They Will Have To Kill Us First' Reviewed
The band Songhoy Blues is a veritable supergroup of four young musicians from different parts of northern Mali, brought together in exile in the country's southern capital. Islamic extremists began forcing Sharia law on their communities beginning in 2012. Music was banished, and musicians feared bodily harm, or worse.
But their mutual exiles have led to a riveting collaboration, anchored by intricate, bluesy and mesmerizing guitar grooves. And they even had the unlikely opportunity to rub elbows with the likes of Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz), which leads to exciting opportunities abroad.
Songhoy Blues' story is by far the most hopeful among the four told in They Will Have To Kill Us First, a documentary that celebrates music and its creators in the face of annihilation. The musical diaspora in focus includes artists of the Songhai people (Songhoy Blues and the revelatory Kharia Arby), and the Tuaregs ("Disco" and Moussa). Lucky attendees of last year's Sound Unseen film festival may have already been introduced to modern Tuareg music by way of Mali's neighbor, Niger, in Rain The Color of Blue With a Little Red In It. (Yes, a Saharan re-imagining of Purple Rain.)
A Tuareg militia began to fight the Malian government in early 2012 in an effort to create their own separate nation, called Azawad. The group, known as MNLA, began to form alliances with Islamic rebels connected to Al-Qaeda, who were also trying to stake their own claims in the north. But these alliances proved disastrous, as the MNLA eventually disbanded due to the growing strength of radical Islamists -- whom today are still present in the form of ISIS. Mix in a simultaneous military coup that overthrows the Malian government, and you have a treacherous recipe for widespread despair and oppression. Director Johanna Schwartz brings the viewer deep into the conflict in northern Mali, and at a couple points shows the graphic and shocking violence committed against people accused of violating Sharia law.
Each musician featured is desperately aching to return home, but specifically to a home where they are free again to create and perform unfettered. As Kharia Arby says, "It's not life without music."
Songhoy Blues will be in attendance at Friday night's screening, and will later perform at Icehouse in south Minneapolis.
~Stephen Swanson
They Will Have To Kill Us First is playing at 7 p.m. at Uptown Theatre in Minneapolis, and at St. Anthony Main Theatre on Thursday, April 14 at 4:35 p.m.
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Other Highlights For Friday, April 8
1944 (Elmo Nüganen, Estonia/Finland) Actor-turned-director Elmo Nüganen (Tangerines) is at the helm of this World War II epic that broke box office records in Estonia. (4:30)
The Legend Of Swee' Pea (Benjamin May, USA) The true story of Lloyd Daniels, who made it to the NBA after struggling with crack cocaine addiction and surviving a brutal attempt on his life, is nothing short of riveting. Director Benjamin May will be at this screening. (7:10)
I Promise You Anarchy (Julio Hernández Cordón, Mexico/Germany) Mexico City is the backdrop of this stylish thriller about two gay teenage skateboarders who get caught up in the narcos-controlled blood trade. (9:15)
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For the festival schedule, and a complete listing of all the movies being shown, click here. Ticket information is available here.
Throughout the entirety of the 2016 Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival, WCCO.com will be spotlighting one notable movie each day, along with other notable screenings. To see WCCO.com's complete coverage on the MSPIFF, click here.
