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| VIDEO PREMIERE: TRIBUTE TO AN EXCEPTIONAL WOMAN BY EMMANUEL JAL |
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 Emmanuel Jal (Sudan)
"Emma"
Here is a simply stunning event and equally stunning song. When Emmanuel Jal was twelve years old he trekked across the African Plain, fleeing his life of being a child soldier. He and his comrades ended up in a refugee camp where Emma McCune, a British Aid worker made it her project to help him. Emma died shortly after she had managed to set Emmanuel on the right path, and now, as a grown man, he has written this song about the ability for one person to make a difference in the life of another. "Emma" is a gorgeous tribute, made moreso by the setting: the celebration of Nelson Mandela's 90th Birthday. Jal's performance in front of a full choir mixes inspiration, drive, and outright joy as he connects with the empathic audience. |
| NEW MUSIC BLOCK #115 "MESSAGES" DEBUTS |
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 Some of the videos we received this past year have had extraordinarily profound statements to make. In our block entitled "Messages" Life and Death get equal time; Manu Chao follows a child soldier around Monrovia and deplores the politics that kill, and Lila Downs sings about the slain human rights lawyer Digna Ochoa. On a more upbeat note, Aterciopelados sing of the river that runs through Bogota, as a source of life to be cherished, and not polluted. Then Korean Jang-Sa-ik brings us a tour de force, about a soul trying to find its way to heaven, and the Tibetan Techung sings a folksong that compares the stars in the sky to the soul of a great teacher. We finish with Brazil's Cibelle and a marvelous interpretation of a Tom Waites eulogy that will leave you aching to see it again and again. Airdates:
Tuesday, June 30th, 2:30 pm (PT) 5:30 pm (ET)
Friday, JUly 3rd 12:30 am (PT) 3:30 am (ET)
Saturday July 4th 7:30 pm (PT) 10:30 (ET) |
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 The Violin (El Violin)
Mexico, 98 mins.
Dir: Francisco Vargas
Don Plutarco, his son Genaro and his grandson Lucio live a double life: on one hand they are musicians and humble farmers, on the other they support the campesina peasant guerilla movement's armed efforts against the oppressive government. When the military seizes the village, the rebels flee to the sierra hills, forced to leave behind their stock of ammunition. While the guerillas organize a counter-attack, old Plutarco executes his own plan. He plays up his appearance as a harmless violin player, in order to get into the village and recover the ammunition hidden his corn field. His violin playing charms the army captain, who orders Plutarco to come back daily. Arms and music play a tenuous game of cat-and-mouse which ultimately results in painful betrayal.
The Violin won awards at the Cannes, San Sebastian, Miami, and San Francisco film festivals.
“The Violin is one of the bravest, most amazing films to debut in Mexican cinema in many a year. I believe [Francisco Vargas’] approach is brilliant, original and unheard-of at the same time, and that he deserves indisputably to be sustained” – Guillermo Del Toro
Airdates
Saturday, June 27th 08:00 pm (PT) 11:00 pm (ET)
Wednesday, July 1st 05:00 pm (PT) 08:00 pm (ET)
Thursday, July 2nd 12:00 pm (PT) 03:00 pm (ET)
Friday, July 3rd 02:00 am (PT) 05:00 am (ET) |
| ON THE BLOG: SNAPSHOT FROM UZBEKISTAN |
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 For those of you who are enjoying our series on the music of Central Asia, we present a very informal discussion of Muggam by a resident of Tashkent, Dilnoza Mamidaliyeva. She had recently returned from a year in Portland Oregon as an exchange student, and was assigned to our own Michal Shapiro as interpreter and guide during the Sharq Taronalari music festival in Samarkand. But when asked about Muggam she turned not only to be a great fan of it, but able to sing it pretty well, too! |
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