In the 1960s, the orchestra Las Maravillas de Mali (“The Wonders of Mali”) was a huge success in Cuba.
The history of this formation of young musicians recruited in Mali and trained in music by the Castro regime has fascinated music producer Richard Minier for two decades.
It was during a stay in Bamako at the end of 1999 that this enthusiast discovered this unusual story.
His long eighteen-year investigation that followed led him in the footsteps of survivors of this adventure.
Full of anecdotes - such as this meeting with Fidel accompanied by Che playing the interpreter - the film paints a gallery of very endearing characters.
The testimony of the brilliant Salif Keita offers an interesting point of view on the abandonment of Malian music by the regime which seized power in the 1970s
Stealing away at the start, Boncana Maïga, who left his friends after ten years of music, quickly turns out to be the central figure of Minier's project: to revive the group.
The star, who has had a great career in Côte d'Ivoire and has an impressive CV, is reluctant to follow the Frenchman.
Reunion scenes
This article is for subscribers only.
You have 50% left to discover.
Subscribe: 1 € the first month
Can be canceled at any time
Enter your email
Already subscribed?
Log in
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/V6VLZTYXJFDXBNZJHIT2VDJVFY.png)
