Well, this is a collage of stuff I recently stumbled across which relate to Africa – the mother continent. First off, check out the video for Senegal Fast Food, a collaboration between the blind Malian musical couple Amadou et Mariam and Manu Chao [the-difficult- to-bracket singer-songwriter]. This is from the album Dimanche a Bamako (Sunday in Bamako), which was produced by Chao.
The movie which left me wanting more was the Last King of Scotland, based Giles Foden’s novel of the same name. James McAvoy plays the bubbly Dr.Nicholas Garrigan, a Scottish doctor who spins the globe and decides to travel to Uganda. In this fictional tale, he meets Idi Amin [a role which fetched Forest Whitaker the best actor Oscar] – after which a friendship and the subsequent betrayal take place. Kerry Washington, who played Kay Amin – one of Amin’s wifes, was captivating whenever she appeared on screen.
Kerry Washington at the Tribeca Film Festival
Image Copyright: David Shankbone
And then there was late Ali Farka Toure, the Malian Blues legend. On a trip to Bangalore from Timbaktu , my gang of friends were swayed by his tunes. Check out this video.
Chris Abani, the Nigerian author, talks about poetry and narrative in the African context during a speech delivered at a Ted.com conference
To end this African Odyssey, I present to you Zerenesay Alemseged, the Ethiopian Athropologist, who talks about the origins of humankind – again in a Ted.com session.
END NOTE: Do visit Ted.com
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