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Rebecca Florence Miller

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Beats of the Antonov (Seattle International Film Festival)

Beats of the Antonov (Seattle International Film Festival)

Last updated on: May 28, 2015 at 11:12 am by Rebecca Florence Miller

Beats of the Antonov (Seattle International Film Festival) 2015-05-28T11:12:29-06:00 Rebecca Florence Miller

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Muna Abdallah and friends perform Girls’ Music

While in Seattle last week, I had the opportunity to visit the Seattle International Film Festival and see a moving African film. Beats of the Antonov celebrates how music enables human beings in severe straits to be resilient and joyful.

Director Hajooj Kuka has made a film about a besieged community that is fresh, visceral, and alive. In Sudan’s Nuba Mountains, right at the border between Sudan and South Sudan, the people of the Blue Nile are daily threatened by the Russian-made Antonov bombers operated by the Sudanese government.

As the film opens, we see the planes buzzing above, the camera work shaky and chaotic as people shelter themselves in holes in the ground. In the chaos of this and other bombing scenes, we are entered into the action of the film from the perspective of those on the ground. We feel as if we too are hiding in holes in the ground, shielding ours head from the bombs, huddling together with our neighbors.

Then, suddenly we hear giggles and laughter, set in wild juxtaposition to the chaos of the explosions. What can this laughter mean? Who could be laughing in such an environment? Why isn’t there wailing instead? Our attention is instantly seized. “Laughter is always there,” we are told. This is a people whose formidable strength and spirit cannot be destroyed. This is a people whose joy, found especially in their music, continues to sustain them through the attempts of the al-Bashir Sudanese government to destroy them.

From their inventive use of common items such as a bowl and pipe to create musical instruments to their seeming ability to devise song and dance for any circumstance, these communities adapt to the harsh circumstances they have been dealt and emerge with greater strength. One refugee points out that good can come even from war because in the onslaught, people become more attached to their culture.

Some of the best insights that emerged in the film had to do with the identity crisis going on in Africa–in Sudan in particular. Because Sudan is a Muslim country and has strong ties to Arab culture, there is a conflict going on between black African identity (about which many in Sudan feel illogically shameful) and Arab culture (which is often viewed as superior or imposed on black African culture). The argument of several people in the film is that the destruction of indigenous tribes in Sudan has to do with the al-Bashir government’s desire to wipe out African identity and elevate Arab identity. This extends even to the way black Africans in this region will try to lighten their skin in order to identify with a more Arab appearance. This is less about Islam vs. other religions, in the argument of the film, and more about cultural identity. There is a movement among the Christians and Muslims who live in the Nuba Mountains to express their religions within a more indigenous African culture. One person said that Mohammed was sent to all cultures, not just to the Arabs, adding, “Arabic culture does not give you a better understanding of Islam.” (This statement I found surprising since my understanding is that the the Qu’ran is to be read in Arabic and that, therefore, Islam is, in fact, rather formed around Arab culture. It is interesting to note the ways in which Blue Nile-region Muslims are attempting to adapt their religion to the needs of the culture in which they find themselves.)

Interspersed throughout the commentary and stories and bombings, harmonious, joyful music bursts forth. The music is the center of this film. It is alive and full of heart. We hear traditional music, “girls’ music” (telling simple stories of women’s everyday life), songs preparing warriors for battle (this community after a long patience with the Sudanese government is now fighting back).

Director Hajooj Kuka, who hails originally from Sudan, spent two years in the region. He had some previous relationships with people in the area that helped pave the way for the making of documentary. He brought a friend who is an ethnomusicologist to the region to join in the project as well. During the post-film discussion, he said that he had thought living with refugees would be depressing but that instead he found great joy being with them. He added that, in this film, he hoped to provide an outlet for marginalized voices.

The only criticism that I have of the film was that at times the documentary subjects were more visibly aware of the cameras than I prefer to see. This may have been a stylistic decision (let the audience see that the subjects know the camera is there), and certainly it is difficult to completely eliminate the influence of camera presence on a group. I did feel I saw the real culture, but I personally prefer a more invisible camera in documentary film.

Kuka, a new African filmmaker, certainly has a vibrant, powerful talent. I hope he will be making many films in the future and continuing his good work of training other Africans in the art of filmmaking.

If you don’t have an international film festival near you, you can find this film on PBS’s POV series on August 3. It is very much worth your time.

Photo credit: Hajooj Kuka.

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