Film Festival 09 - Youssou N'Dour
Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love
USA 2008, 102m
Director: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
Festivals: Toronto, Amsterdam Documentary 2008; SXSW 2009
Possessor of one of the most gorgeous voices in world music today,
the Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour is widely admired for more
than just his singing. In 2007, Time magazine named him one of the
hundred most influential people in the world of art, highlighting
his efforts to spread technology in Africa and to fight poverty. He
is seen by many Africans as the epitome of global success and
self-confidence. This documentary delivers a gratifying amount of
that voice in an amazing array of different concert venues around
the world. It also provides a close-up picture of the personal
crisis N'Dour endured as he negotiated the religious/political
fallout from his 2004 album Egypt. Dedicated to his love for the
Islamic faith, it was acclaimed as both beautiful and timely in the
West but considered blasphemous in Senegal. With N'Dour as its
guide - and his proud family looking on - this film reveals the
spiritual and musical sources that led to Egypt and what the singer
was hoping to achieve for himself and his audience. - Bill
Gosden
In English, French, Wolof and Arabic, with English subtitles
www.ibringwhatilove.com
