Synopsis

The marimba and the balafon are magical instruments connected in their past, which are expressed in the black and mestizo sounds of popular music, folk music, and jazz. We travelled through three continents; we met iconic players of the marimba and the balafon. We reviewed the film and photographic archives that revealed the deep musical relationship between Senegal, Mexico, Germany, Ecuador, the United States, and Colombia. El Viaje dela Marimba is a living portrait of how ancestral music is nourished by the soil in which it is born or the air that its creators breathe. In Dakar, the balafons Djyby Diabaté and the Colombian marimbero Candelario Gonzalez, talk with their instruments. In Chiapas, Mexico with Carlos Nandayapa and Israel Moreno, we walked the path of a black marimba that became the popular instrument in that country. On the streets of New York, Dan Neville presents his jazz work inspired by the learning he received from Colombian maestro Diego Obregón. In Esmeraldas Ecuador, the marimbero Larry Preciado reveals the connection between the Ecuadorian and Colombian black people. In Stuttgart, Germany the composer Magnus Lingrend and Candelario meet in the Big Band format and its powerful sound. In Barbacoas, an Afro-descendant town in the Colombian Pacific, we witness the natural spell of a traditional marimba.

Credits

Director Country Run time
Marino Alberto Aguado Colombia -

Film Screenings

Date Venue Time
Wed 15 Nov 2023 ZIFFTHUB B (Workshops) 01:00 pm
Sat 18 Nov 2023 NGZ Bulawayo B (Workshops) 11:00 am
Back to Film Catalogue