In collaboration with Debaser (Rachel Weldon), Timekode (Kwende Kefentse) and Sahel Sounds , Knot Project Space presented a special summer exhibition featuring two music-based films from the Sahara: Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai [Rain the Colour of Blue with a Little Red in It] (2015) and Zerzura (2017). Both of these Tamasheq-language films are projects initiated by the Sahel Sounds record label, and employ a participatory mode of ethnographic, community-based filmmaking in which participants and actors play a central and active role in shaping the nature of the film’s dialogue, narrative and trajectory. The two films also speak to the potential of the ‘re-make’ as a mode for transcultural exchange, with Akounak transposing Prince’s 1984 classic Purple Rain into a desert landscape, and Zerzura recalling Jim Jarmusch’s 1995 western Dead Man, propelled by Neil Young’s meandering guitar improvisations.
At the heart of each of these works are two musicians from Agadez, Niger: the ‘Hendrix of the Sahara’ Mdou Moctar, and his rhythm guitarist Ahmoudou Madassane, who star and receive writing credits in each film, respectively. In advance of a live performance by Mdou Moctar and his band in Ottawa, this exhibition presented Akounak and Zerzura as an two-channel exhibition, with the films playing back alongside the presence their original scripts, treated by the production teams as points of departure and sites of negotiation during shooting. Through producing this exhibition, the pages of these scripts were scanned and treated as time-based content, editing these page contents into a second channel that played alongside and in-sync with the films on the main channel. This produced a comparative mode of viewing the films, between the original, modified script and the final edit, where loose narrative threads could be seen weaving in and out of scenes depicting everyday life of the Tuareg people. The stunning performances by Mdou Moctar and Ahmoudou Madassane that punctuate the soundscape of the films seem to transcend the narrative fictions in which they are situated to tell a different story altogether of tradition, movement and desire.
Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai
In 1984, Prince took the world by storm with Purple Rain, launching the artist’s career through a mythologized self-portrayal. Thirty years later the legend of ‘The Kid’ was reborn and transformed through an unexpected transnational exchange. Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai pays homage to Purple Rain, and is set in Agadez, a city in the region Sahel in central Africa. The film, whose title translates as “Rain the Colour of Blue with a Little Red in It” is the first ever feature film made in the Tamasheq language of the Tuareg people (in which there is no word for the colour purple). Since its release in 2015 the film has toured internationally and has helped to expose the world to its star: virtuoso Tuareg guitarist, poet, and composer Mdou Moctar, garnering him international acclaim. The magnetic performances of original music that appear in the film point to how Moctar draws on both modern and traditional sources in his playing, and combines these elements into new sonic formulations. Moctar’s recent album Ilana: The Creator (released in March 2019) shows Moctar continuing to push the boundaries of Tuareg musical traditions.
Zerzura
Zerzura is genre-defying film that transposes a modern folktale with an ethnographic acid Western, inspired by the films of Alexander Jodorowsky and Jean Rouch. The film follows a young man in search of an enchanted oasis as he journeys through a surreal vision of the Sahara, crossing paths with djinn, bandits, gold seekers, and migrants. The film stars and is scored by Ahmoudou Madassane, a member of Mdou Moctar’s band and a supporting actor in Akounak.
Mdou Moctar
Mdou Moctar immediately stands out as one of the most innovative artists in contemporary Saharan music. His unconventional interpretations of Tuareg guitar and have pushed him to the forefront of a crowded scene. Back home, he’s celebrated for his original compositions and poetry, an original creator in a genre defined by cover bands. In 2008, Mdou traveled to Nigeria to record his debut album of spacey autotune, drum machine, and synthesizer. The album became a viral hit on the mp3 networks of West Africa, and was later released on the compilation “Music from Saharan Cellphones.” In 2013, he released “Afelan,” compiled from field recordings of his performances recorded in his village. Then he shifted gears, producing and starring the first Tuareg language film, a remake of Prince’s Purple Rain (“Rain the Color Blue with a Little Red in it”). Finally, in 2017, he created a solo folk album, “Sousoume Tamachek,” a mellow blissed out recording evoking the calm desert soundscape.
Related Programming
Performance: Mdou Moctar Live. July 27, 2019. Queen St. Fare, Ottawa.