Wow. Now, that's a film I want to see.
I'll never get my wife to watch it with me, but such is life. jrs On Oct 25, 2013, at 11:37 PM, Udhay Shankar N wrote: > On 25-Jul-12 2:59 PM, Udhay Shankar N wrote: > >> http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/30/us-afghanistan-rock-idUSBRE85T0LO20120630 >> >> >> Young Afghans seek solace from war in heavy metal rock > > Something on similar lines I just ran across: > > http://www.deathmetalangola.com/film/ > > The Film > > SYNOPSIS > > Following nearly 40 years of unrelenting war – with every attendant > horror – peace and reconstruction are slowly arriving to Angola. Damaged > first by the war for independence from Portugal, Angola was then ripped > apart by a devastating civil war that orphaned thousands of children. > Huambo, Angola’s second largest city, finds 55 of these children in the > Okutiuka orphanage under the care of Sonia Ferreira. Sonia’s boyfriend, > Wilker Flores, is a death metal guitarist who uses the brutal sounds and > rhythms of this hardcore music as a path to healing, or, as Sonia says, > “to clear out the debris from all these years of war.” > > DEATH METAL ANGOLA tracks Wilker and Sonia’s dream – to stage Angola’s > first-ever national rock concert, bringing together members from > different strands of the Angolan hardcore scene from different provinces > – as it unfolds in fits and starts against the bombed out and mined > backdrop of the formerly stately Huambo. Rubble and deconstructed spaces > provide scenic reminders of why > hardcore music has gained a foothold. > > What initially looks like a Quixotic undertaking gains momentum, aided > by social media and propelled by members of the various branches of the > death metal hardcore underground, who join together to stage the event. > Raucous and righteous, DMA’s look at a rock show off the grid is > fulfilling, haunting, and real. > > DIRECTOR’S NOTE > > A few years ago, I was traveling through Angola researching a film about > a railway when I stopped at the only cafe that served a decent cup of > coffee in the bombed-out former capital, Huambo. A young man in a blue > button down oxford shirt and tiny dread locks waved me over. I sat with > him for a while and chatted. We talked about what I was doing there and > I asked him about himself. He said he was a musician. Oh really? I > asked, what do you play? He looked me right in the eye and said, “Death > Metal.” Stunned, I asked him if he would play for me. He got very > excited, said he’d find an amplifier somewhere and that I should meet him > later that night at “the Orphanage,” and slipped me the address. I > assumed it was some sort of club. However when I arrived in the middle > of the night at what seemed like an abandoned milk factory in the middle > of nowhere, it was clear that this was no club. There he was, Wilker > Flores, the young man in a blue oxford, with tiny dreads and an electric > guitar, surrounded by 55 orphaned boys who called this place home. > Syphoning electricity from the neighbor, Wilker proceeded to play one of > the hardest and harshest impromptu concerts imaginable, lit by nothing > more than the head lights of van. It was absolutely magical and > terrifying and it marked the beginning of my long and profound > relationship with Wilker, as well as the woman who runs the Orphanage, > Sonia Ferreira, who is one of the most remarkable people I have met in > my life. I have never seen anything like this place and never met anyone > like these people. This has truly been one of the deepest, life altering > experiences I’ve ever had. The tremendous power, bravery and grace that > these people embody lies at the very heart of this film, DEATH METAL ANGOLA. > > > > Director : Jeremy Xido / Cinematography: Johan Legraie and Jeremy Xido/ > Editor: Todd Holmes / Produced by: Joseph Castelo, Jeremy Xido, and > David Gallagher / Composer: Christian Frederickson / Sound Recordist : > Oswald Juliana / Sound Design : Timothy Bright > > > -- > ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com)) >
