Santa Cruz Film Festival 2009

SPOTLIGHT SCREENING

The Santa Cruz Film Festival is delighted to present this Spotlight Screening of Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love about the famed Senegalese singer’s faithful journey to create a more positive, tolerant view of Islam through his music.

For nearly 30 years, Youssou Ndour has been making popular Senegalese music (called mbalax) and has grown into one of the most important artists in the world. His collaborations with Peter Gabriel, (In Your Eyes, Shaking the Tree), and Neneh Cherry, (7 Seconds), solidified his popularity with Western audiences, and he has used his international notoriety to raise awareness of human rights and political issues. In recent years Youssou has shifted his attention toward his Muslim faith. Dedicated to improving the world’s perception of Islam, he recorded Egypt, a deeply spiritual album.

The film follows the famed singer over several years as he conceives, records and releases the album. While Egypt received critical and commercial success in the West, it was met with extreme backlash in Senegal. The furor reached a fever pitch when Youssou chose to perform during Ramadan. The film effectively places Egypt into context and explores the questions and issues surrounding the album with sensitivity and honesty transitioning seamlessly between the exploration of his faith, production of the album and blazing concert footage. His warm presence is as much a delight to watch as his beautiful, tenor voice is to hear. The performances are incredibly shot and mesmerizing, from wild shows at his nightclub in Senegal to the spiritual ecstasy of his Carnegie Hall concerts to the shear hilarity of a promoter in Ireland informing the audience that they have to finish their pints before the band will start.

A loving portrait of an iconic artist, expect to have your horizons broadened and your soul lifted while enjoying some of the finest music in the world!