The Festival Of The Desert
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Fri 16 July 2004 // 20:00
THE FESTIVAL OF THE DESERT
(Lionel Brouet/ 2003 / France (subtitled) / 53mins / Beta-SP/ cert PG) + Q+A with Andy Morgan
+ live music
(Fri 16th / £6/5 / 8pm)
Get primed for Ashton Court with a night of festival undertones and sunbaked desert blues in the company of some of its co-organisers. ANDY MORGAN
(journalist and manager) will conduct a Q+A after the film plus a rare chance to see a laid-back performance by JUSTIN ADAMS (Robert Plant's band and former Invader of the Heart).
A field of silken sand dunes on the outskirts of the little village of Essakane, 60km north west of Timbuktu in Mali, is transformed into a compact festival site and at dusk, 300 camels with Touareg riders in full ceremonial garb complete with swords and shades form a semi-circle in front of the stage. Since January 2001, The Festival of the Desert has been taking place deep in the sandy vastness of the African Sahara, designed to provide a worldwide showcase for the music and culture of the Tamashek people in particular and of Mali and West Africa in general.
Featuring performances by Ali Farka Touré, Tartit, Robert Plant and
Justin Adams, Oumou Sangare, Lo'Jo and Django amongst others. The film also portrays the grindingly difficult tasks involved in preparing the festival site and looks at some of the social and political issues prevalent in the southern Sahara which lead to the creation of the festival.
(Lionel Brouet/ 2003 / France (subtitled) / 53mins / Beta-SP/ cert PG) + Q+A with Andy Morgan
+ live music
(Fri 16th / £6/5 / 8pm)
Get primed for Ashton Court with a night of festival undertones and sunbaked desert blues in the company of some of its co-organisers. ANDY MORGAN
(journalist and manager) will conduct a Q+A after the film plus a rare chance to see a laid-back performance by JUSTIN ADAMS (Robert Plant's band and former Invader of the Heart).
A field of silken sand dunes on the outskirts of the little village of Essakane, 60km north west of Timbuktu in Mali, is transformed into a compact festival site and at dusk, 300 camels with Touareg riders in full ceremonial garb complete with swords and shades form a semi-circle in front of the stage. Since January 2001, The Festival of the Desert has been taking place deep in the sandy vastness of the African Sahara, designed to provide a worldwide showcase for the music and culture of the Tamashek people in particular and of Mali and West Africa in general.
Featuring performances by Ali Farka Touré, Tartit, Robert Plant and
Justin Adams, Oumou Sangare, Lo'Jo and Django amongst others. The film also portrays the grindingly difficult tasks involved in preparing the festival site and looks at some of the social and political issues prevalent in the southern Sahara which lead to the creation of the festival.