Niger: Magic and Ecstasy in the Sahel
Niger: Magic and Ecstasy in the Sahel
NR | 01 January 2005 (USA)
Niger: Magic and Ecstasy in the Sahel Trailers

A celebration of life in the Sahel region of Africa, this film showcases many of Niger’s venerable music styles. Tuareg Electric Guitar trance rock, Bori cult dance ceremonies, Fulani Folk, and Roadhouse Gospel Rave-ups are some of the segments included in this latest "Folk Cinema" classic from Sublime Frequencies! Filmed in December of 2004 on location in Niger, Hisham Mayet delivers a spontaneous, raw, and inspiring collection of images, music, and ceremony (again with a single camera presentation) from a nation mired in poverty and continual post-colonial disappointment. Quoting from Mayet’s liner notes: "This is not music as commodity, this is music as survival. There is a saying in Niger that goes, "when we die we know we are going to heaven because we already live in Hell" well I think its more like the purgatory that we all live in and they sure have managed to transcend with an incredible natural resource: Music. Dig it!"

Reviews
Laikals The greatest movie ever made..!
Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.
Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.
ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.