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Dernières Nouvelles du Cosmos
Ethiopiques: Revolt of the Soul
Julie Bertuccelli, France, 2016, 84 mins
In the late 1960s, in the capital of Ethiopia, record store owner-turned-music producer Amha Eshete noticed something strange—there was no Ethiopian music being produced and sold in his country. Herein began the birth of recorded Ethiopian music, imbued with the flavours of funk, soul and jazz. While technically illegal at the time, the music was celebrated by the people and tolerated by the country’s then-monarch. But in 1975, new governmental powers hit the pause button on this new musical expression, forcing Eshete into exile and imprisoning many artists. Like many great stories, however, things did not end there! A 1970s recording from Mahmoud Ahmed fell into the hands of Francis Falceto, a French music journalist, who was absolutely smitten by the sound. Falceto embarked on a two-decade long journey that took him to Ethiopia and the United States in an attempt to revive Ethiopian music and share it with the world.
(Latest News from the Cosmos)
At almost age 30, Hélène Nicolas can’t speak or hold a pen, and she never learned to read or write. It wasn’t until she was 20 years old that her mother Véronique discovered Hélène was able to communicate by arranging laminated letters on a board. Taking the pen name Babouillec Sp, this severely autistic young woman began producing poetry and novels, and is now collaborating with a theatre director to adapt her work for the stage. Her writing is marked by a visionary sense of space and time that is both symbolic and metaphoric, as well as wicked sense of humour. As she stresses, she is part of “A miscalibrated batch that fits nowhere.” Director Julie Bertuccelli followed this remarkable young woman for two years, with the intent to induce curiosity and understanding. Her film captures Hélène’s spiritual connection, in constant communication with the cosmos at large, offering an almost telepathic sense of other realities, other worlds. Latest News from the Cosmos is more than a portrait of a singular artist, it is also a path towards a genuine encounter, and a demonstration that autism needn’t mean confinement or disability. Rather, it has the potential to offer a new and profound connection with the mysteries of the universe. -TG
Maciek Bochniak, Poland/Germany, 2017, 70 mins
Maciek Bochniak’s film is a lively compilation of interviews with Eshete, Falceto, and many of the Ethiopian musicians—including Girma Bèyènè, pianist and arranger for the Walias Band—whose voices evoked a passion for this unique musical culture. -SP
THIS FILM IS PART OF THE FRENCH FRENCH PROGRAM. MORE ON PAGE 30.
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