DAAS Professor Kelly Askew will be featured  in a radio interview along with the Ron Mulvihill, director of her documentary film, "Poetry in Motion: 100 Years of Zanzibar's Nadi Ikhwan Safaa."

 

Ron and Kelly discuss "Poetry In Motion" this Saturday (Feb. 4th) at 4:00pm PST on 90.7 KPFK FM Radio in Los Angeles or www.kpfk.org on the show Spotlight Africa with host Asumpta Oturo. "Poetry in Motion" was recently selected as an official entry in the 20th annual Pan African Film Festival, which takes place in L.A. February 9-20, 2012. 

 

 

 

 

POETRY IN MOTION: 100 Years of Zanzibar's Nadi Ikhwan Safaa - a film celebrating Zanzibar’s famed taarab music to screen as an Official Selection at the Pan African Film Festival (PAFF).

 

Los Angeles – Jahazi Media and Gris-Gris Films proudly present POETRY IN MOTION: 100 Years of Zanzibar’s Nadi Ikhwan Safaa in Los Angeles, CA, as part of the Pan African Film Festival’s 20th anniversary, with two screenings on Feb.15, 2012 at 1:30p.m. and Feb. 19, 2012 at 7:40 p.m. at the new, all digital RAVE CINEMAS, 15 Baldwin Hills, Crenshaw Plaza (located on MLK Blvd between Marlton and Crenshaw). 

 

POETRY IN MOTION: 100 Years of Zanzibar’s Nadi Ikhwan Safaa is a feature-length documentary film exploring the music, poetry, history and personalities of an esteemed East African orchestra. Performers of sung Swahili poetry called taarab, Nadi Ikwan Safaa (‘The True Brotherhood Club’) of Zanzibar, Tanzania, celebrated its 100th anniversary in July 2005, making it one of the oldest orchestras in the world today.

 

Situated at the nexus of Indian Ocean trade, Zanzibar developed during the 19th century into a thriving cosmopolitan trading center. Colonizers, slaves and migrants came to the island contributing their musical and cultural traits to local Swahili communities.  Born of this cultural diversity, Swahili taarab poetry became a vehicle utilized by elites and commoners alike to articulate social grievances and reinforce social mores. The musical sounds of taarab, which originate in traditional music of Africa, Arabia, and South Asia, were refined and blended in small ensembles. Then inspired by Egyptian film orchestras of the 1950s they developed into an orchestral performance sound far-reaching in its popularity.

 

African orchestral music is largely unknown, falling, as it does, outside popular perceptions of African music as limited to drumming. Originating as a male social club, Nadi Ikwan Safaa has since grown to encompass male and female members from all sectors of Zanzibar’s diverse population. ‘Poetry in Motion’ offers a music and poetry-driven narrative of a musical group that has survived colonialism and violent revolution, yet always managed to celebrate life’s joys and challenges.

 

 

Below is the a link of the radio interview on "Spotlight Africa", a long-time show on a popular LA radio station, that preceded the festival. 

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jajohnst/things/poetryinmotion-kpfk-20120204.mp3