Prince's iconic '80s flick Purple Rain will be toasted in a new film homage set in Niger's Tuareg community. Likewise poised as a look into a musician's life and apparently rife with concert clips, the movie is called Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai, which translates to a familiarly themed Rain the Color of Blue with a Little Red in It.
The film project is being presented by West African music-highlighting label Sahel Sounds, and according to label owner/film director Christopher Kirkley, the idea came from a joke with friends about adapting iconic films into the Sahara. Once they hit on Purple Rain, though, they decided the concept had some teeth.
"The film is written around a musician. In some ways, it plays like a long music video," Kirkley said in a blog post. "While some of the writing seems kitsch today, and riddled with clichés, the idea at the core — a fictional film very loosely based around the life and struggle of a musician — was a feasible project that could be possible."
According to press materials, Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai is "the story of a young guitarist in the North of Niger, trying to make it against all odds." It stars Tuareg guitarist Mdou Moctar as a man who has just moved to Agadez to make an impression in the city's "desert blues" music scene.
The film apparently features a number of other musicians from the region. Down below you'll find a trailer for the film, which finds Moctar rocking purple garb, riding a motorcycle and dominating crowds with his riffs, just like Prince in Purple Rain. The film is also said to tip its hat to the Jimmy Cliff-scored crime flick The Harder They Come.
Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai finds the fictionalized Moctar facing "fierce competition from jealous musicians, [overcoming] family conflicts, and [enduring] the trials of love — all while coming to terms with one of the biggest barriers: himself." The movie is also billed as the first fictional film entirely using the Tuareg language.
An arrival time has yet to be delivered for the film, but a Kickstarter fund promises the movie will eventually make its way onto DVD and as a digital download. The project has already made its $12,000 goal, but you can make a pledge over here. Depending on your pledge, incentives include downloads of Moctar's Afelane album, items from Sahel Sounds' back catalogue or an executive producer credit.
Thanks to FACT for the tip.
The film project is being presented by West African music-highlighting label Sahel Sounds, and according to label owner/film director Christopher Kirkley, the idea came from a joke with friends about adapting iconic films into the Sahara. Once they hit on Purple Rain, though, they decided the concept had some teeth.
"The film is written around a musician. In some ways, it plays like a long music video," Kirkley said in a blog post. "While some of the writing seems kitsch today, and riddled with clichés, the idea at the core — a fictional film very loosely based around the life and struggle of a musician — was a feasible project that could be possible."
According to press materials, Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai is "the story of a young guitarist in the North of Niger, trying to make it against all odds." It stars Tuareg guitarist Mdou Moctar as a man who has just moved to Agadez to make an impression in the city's "desert blues" music scene.
The film apparently features a number of other musicians from the region. Down below you'll find a trailer for the film, which finds Moctar rocking purple garb, riding a motorcycle and dominating crowds with his riffs, just like Prince in Purple Rain. The film is also said to tip its hat to the Jimmy Cliff-scored crime flick The Harder They Come.
Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai finds the fictionalized Moctar facing "fierce competition from jealous musicians, [overcoming] family conflicts, and [enduring] the trials of love — all while coming to terms with one of the biggest barriers: himself." The movie is also billed as the first fictional film entirely using the Tuareg language.
An arrival time has yet to be delivered for the film, but a Kickstarter fund promises the movie will eventually make its way onto DVD and as a digital download. The project has already made its $12,000 goal, but you can make a pledge over here. Depending on your pledge, incentives include downloads of Moctar's Afelane album, items from Sahel Sounds' back catalogue or an executive producer credit.
Thanks to FACT for the tip.