In Senegal there is a phrase, which is already printed on the t-shirts of street vendors in Barcelona, which reads: “Barça ou Barzakh”. It means “Barcelona or death”, and expresses the pressure that young Senegalese are under to embark on the European adventure. If they do not do so, they are branded as cowards, unsupportive and not helping their needy families with their forced departure from the country. The documentary Feneen talks about how artists from the underground and urban scene in Dakar want music to be the passport not to emigrate, but to open the doors to a new life in their own country. It is a magnificent example of the spirit that fuels the In-Edit music documentary festival, which has presented the programme for its twenty-second edition, which will take place at the Aribau cinemas between 23 October and 3 November and which will open with the screening of the documentary The Jewelabout Bad Gyal’s rise to the heavens of success. The echo of her figure is such that there are no more tickets left for the session. Don’t panic, the documentary will be screened on more occasions during the festival.
Uri Altell, director of the competition, agreed with Toni Querol, spokesman for the selection team, that “this year is especially good in terms of programming because many good pieces have been produced.” Querol expanded the information by distinguishing between documentaries that are popular because of the artist’s name, see the two by Blur – one is one of the concerts after their return last year and another about the recording of their comeback album, The Ballad Of Darren—the other two about the Rolling Stones —one with Brian Jones as the protagonist and the other with Anita Pallenberg as a guide— as well as those that explain stories that have made In Edit a festival where not only the names count. This would be the case of the aforementioned Feneenas well as Soundtrack To A Coup d’Étata piece that explains how the tours of Nina Simone and Dizzy Gillespie through the former Belgian Congo were infiltrated by the CIA to end the mandate (and life) of the post-colonial prime minister, Patrice Lumumba, things that they achieved.
And continuing with the relationship between favored and disadvantaged countries, Querol highlighted three documentaries that narrate the musical diaspora and the consequent emigration of artists to New York or London to expand the radius of action of dancehallcalypso and reggae (respectively Bad Like Brooklyn Dancehall, One Hand Don’t Clap and Harder Than The Rock). Close-up portraits with an emphasis on misogyny articulate It Was All A Dreama piece where 90s hip-hop artists like Dr Dre, Snoop Dog or Notorious Big respond just when the genre was becoming mainstream. Unique characters such as Genesis P-Orridge, bands with a political discourse and a ground-breaking attitude such as Devo, ugly artists with a striking image and rap-rave sound such as Die Antwork, women who were more than just the support of famous men such as June Carter (wife of Johnny Cash), indie groups such as Pavement who in their documentary ironize about music documentaries, their language and the rise of biopics, as well as pieces about jazz starring artists of the stature of Ornette Coleman or Erroll Garner and festivals such as Montreaux and its long list of stars, round out a program that reaches almost 70 documentaries.
Pieces with a special character include: Enomade with software and AI that allows its director, Gary Hustwit, to make a live remix of it during the screening, so that the piece about Brian Eno is different in each showing. Among the special galas is the exclusive screening for cinemas in Towthe documentary concert about his time at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona celebrating his 25th anniversary, and which will feature the presence of the Muñoz brothers, as well as the pre-premiere of Supersubmarine: a hundred ways to returna special of the Salvados programme that will also feature the presence of the band at the premiere (the band suffered a road accident that almost ended their career). Also to be seen at In Edit will be the first documentary directed by C Tangana (in the documentary about his last tour he already announced that he was more interested in directing documentaries than making music), about flamenco guitarist Yerai Cortés. A look at the Barcelona scene will include pieces about Zeleste (50 years after its opening), Los Negativos, the Black Metal scene and about the figure of Carles Sabater, vocalist of Sau, 25 years after his death.
Finally, Uri Altell highlighted that through parallel initiatives to the festival such as In Edit Lab, In Progress, One To One and Talent, the festival offers platforms to creators, musicians, distributors and producers to improve the viability of music documentaries, strengthening their industry and their diffusion among potential directors of the future. For its part, the La Caixa Banking Foundation, through its own platform CaixaForum+, will offer 15 documentaries from the programme yet to be determined between 18 November and 2 December.
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