(Wakefield, QC) Organizers at Wakefield International Film Festival are delighted to announce a new pilot project, a mini-festival of feature-length documentary films, all concerned with the theme, Music: What it is!, to take place September 16 – 18 at the Centre Wakefield La Pêche in Wakefield, QC. Four films telling real stories about real people driven by, fed by, nurtured by, sustained by music – that most human of undertakings. Across the globe, across politics, across culture, it is essential to human experience. It is a universal language. And, as always with Wakefield International Film Festival screenings, there will be a whole raft of 'enhancements' for our audience. Here's the lineup:
7pm Friday, September 16th - Song of Lahore (2015, USA/Pakistan, 82 min, English, also Punjabi and Urdu with English subtitles) Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Andy Schocken – Pakistani classical musicians, long oppressed by extreme Islamist forces, are invited by Wynton Marsalis to NYC to perform, because of their remarkable version of Dave Brubeck's Take Five. "... this Pakistani "Buena Vista Social Club" is a testament to the enduring potency of creative expression." (Michael Rechtshaffen, LA Times)
(2015, USA/Paraguay/Norway/Brazil, 95 min,
) Brad Allgood, Graham Townsley – Paraguayan slum kids learn music, then perform in
, on instruments made from trash. Eventually they tour the world! “...
is a secret treasure… a story of the dull throb of existence gleefully recalibrated by the thundering heartbeat of music." (Kate X Messer,
)
(2016, Canada, 106 min) Daniel Cross – Montrealer Cross has crafted an authentic and affecting tribute, weaving the stories of the living blues legends still playing the Chitlin' Circuit in the American deep south of the Mississippi Delta and Louisiana Bayou. " ... when the music takes flight, it’s a thing of beauty. Heartache never sounded so good." (Chris Knight,
)
(2015, Germany/Switzerland/Iran, 90 min,
) Rokhsareh Ghaemmaghami – Sonita, a teenaged Afghani refugee living in Iran without papers, dreams of being a rap artist, in spite of the weight of tradition stacked against her. Her family wants to sell her as a bride and it's forbidden for women to sing in public. "... to witness Sonita’s rise from timid rapper to empowered activist over a three-year span is thrilling." (Nigel M Smith,
– ✰✰✰✰✰)
The thing that drives all of these people and pushes them through incredible adversity? Music. Plain and simple. All of these are affecting stories – and we have an innate understanding of and appreciation for this thing that drives them. As humans, even if we're not musicians, we understand and praise and support the searching, the quest, that all these people undertake. We get it. Tickets are $12 (tax inc) and are available through www.wakefielddocfest.ca - a limited number of festival passes are on sale for $40 (tax inc).
. For more information, please contact Melanie Willis at wakefieldfilmfest@gmail.com or 613.761.0930
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