Part of the event
Following its debut at the past Sundance Film Festival, the screening at the Design Indaba FilmFest, is the African premiere of Finding Fela a truly African story.
The film directed by Alex Gibney explores the life and music of this Nigerian multi-instrumentalist, musician and composer, Fela Kuti. Kuti is regarded as the pioneer of the Afrobeat music genre who used his music as a weapon, as a confrontational platform to expose issues of human rights and social justice.
The film follows the cast of the three-time Tony Award-winner, Broadway musical FELA! as they take the production to Kuti’s motherland of Nigeria, combined with interviews and archival footage of Kuti.
Here's a short insert on the film's debut at Sundance Film Festival 2014 alongside interviews with director Alex Gibney and executive producer Stephen Hendel.
Hendel will introduce the African premiere of Finding Fela at Design Indaba FilmFest 2014 on 1 March at the Castle of Good Hope. Be sure to book your seat here.
The documentary's title suggests that Fela has somehow been lost to new generations of music fans. The film succeeds at rediscovering his appeal anew, contextualising his world and his politics, but the man's true identity remains something of a mystery. - Mary Sollosi, Indiewire.
