Musicians from Mali: documentary

★★★★ ★





In 2012, Malian president Amadou Touré was deposed by a coup d’état that threw the nation into a state of disarray. In the ensuing chaos, two competing groups began to struggle for control of the Northern Malian territories: the rebels – known as the MNLA – and the Islamists. Unable to reconcile their respective visions for the new independent state, the two groups turned on each other, transforming an already volatile rebellion into a bloody battle for supremacy.







Under the imposition of Islamist sharia law, musical expression in Northern Mali was not just undermined, but outlawed – those that disobeyed faced intimidation, mutilation and death. Naturally, musicians became refugees and fled the area, leaving the militants to destroy studios, dismantle radio stations and amputate the limbs of dissenters.







Director Johanna Schwartz's new film They Will Have to Kill Us First documents the struggle of the Malian musicians, and is a testament to human resilience in the face of censorship and repression.







The idea that music can transcend such oppression is central theme in They Will Have to Kill Us First. Whilst Schwartz's subject is not a novel one, the film is clearly aware of the force and power of highlighting the suffering, and ultimately the resolve, of the Malian musicians it follows.