drumming bodies dancing
Life tossed me to far flung places when I was a young Swiss student. I landed in Senegal as a tourguide the first year the country opened to tourism. Towards the end of my stay I caught a glimpse of a sabar dancer and drummer at the beach. It electrified me. I felt compelled to return to see it again.
This film is my exploration of the sabar dance and drum culture and the joyful community it creates, made with my Senegalese friends.
Producer Senegal Laye Diedhiou
Abdoulaye Diedhiou lives in M’Bour, Senegal. Producer of audiovisual projects and director of www.itourismetv.com, television programs focused on tourism. He is also the manager of the group “Xalaas”, traditional sabar dancers and drummers, based in Senegal.
Photo: Laye in front of a historic canon used during the slave trade on the Island of Goré near Dakar, now the site of the House of Slaves
Featuring Mané Ndiaye, Pape Ndiaye, Babacar Top.
Editor Bill Flicker.
Music by Seckou Keita and Omar Sosa.
Screenings
drumming bodies dancing
Upcoming:
Past:
November 6th
Screening with Q&A
UCLA World Arts and Cultures graduate students
October 18th, 1pm PST
Topanga Film Festival
Froggy's - 1105 N Topanga Canyon Blvd, Topanga, CA 90290
Screening in MBour, Senegal, the principal filming location
June 18th, 8pm GMT, preceded by a sabar starting at 6:30pm
June 6th, 12pm EST
Piton International Film Festival
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
May 31st to June 2nd
R.E.D. International Dance, Art & Film Festival (RIFF)
Einavegen 1771
2843 Eina, Norway
Past, continued:
May 3rd to May 26th
The International Black & Diversity Film Festival Toronto, Canada
May 17th, 6pm PST
UC Riverside Doundounba Festival 2024
January 28th, 5pm PST
KAOS Network
4343 Leimert Boulevard,
Los Angeles, CA 90008
Ethos Film Festival
November 10th 2023, 5pm PST
The Eli and Edythe Broad Stage
1310 11th St,
Santa Monica, CA 90401
September 2nd 2023, 11am PST
Vidiots
4884 Eagle Rock Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90041
February 22nd, 1:30pm
Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre
Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway
New York, NY 10025