BOUDERBALA
Director JOAQUIN CERVERA
Countries Spain
Duration 84 min
Synopsis
Aziz is a famous Moroccan musician resident in Spain. He gives concerts all over the world and after a music tour, travels to his homeland. Here, begins a journey of initiation in which he discovers his African origins. Descendants of black slaves, transported to North Africa by the caravans in the ancient times, the Gnawas have maintained for centuries a unique way of life and its own identity. The film opens the door to the amazing Gnawa culture. His followers, through music dance and trance, in colourful ceremonies, emulate the genesis of the universe and invoke their protective colours and the spirits of their African ancestors. This culture finds its roots in black Africa, the Gulf of Guinea, the birthplace of Santeria, Candomble and Voodoo. The film highlights the close cultural and religious relationship between the different families of the black Diaspora: the ones from the American continent and the Gnawa culture in northern Africa. Despite the huge distance between them, they share common features that unite them. Our protagonist plunges us into a mystical world, far, apart from his day-to-day life reality as a musician in Europe. As a Gnawa, he takes active part of this unique Sufi brotherhood in Morocco where he is recognized as a master. He lives halfway between two different cultures, the western and African, that only music helps him to reconcile. Bouderbala is a production which plot goes about a fast-paced trip through the desert undertaken with an old snake charmer. Gradually, the old man reveals himself as a wise scholar, versed in the teachings of Bouderbala, a great Sufi Saint of the sixteenth Century. The legend of this saint, who travelled through the Maghreb wearing old rags, imparting wisdom, remains an unavoidable reference for the Moroccan people and an important part of their collective imaginary. Through the stories and lifestyle of the old snake charmer we discover the other side of the people of the Sahara, a land where two sisters cultures come together, sharing a common history. The film lead us to unknown Morocco, away from the commercial and touristic circuits, offering another view of its geography, natural areas and inhabitants. A breath of fresh air. A history marked by great black Diaspora of slavery in North Africa. A world away from religious and cultural topics, revealing the most unusual dreams and lives of the Sahara people.
Aziz is a famous Moroccan musician resident in Spain. He gives concerts all over the world and after a music tour, travels to his homeland. Here, begins a journey of initiation in which he discovers his African origins. Descendants of black slaves, transported to North Africa by the caravans in the ancient times, the Gnawas have maintained for centuries a unique way of life and its own identity. The film opens the door to the amazing Gnawa culture. His followers, through music dance and trance, in colourful ceremonies, emulate the genesis of the universe and invoke their protective colours and the spirits of their African ancestors. This culture finds its roots in black Africa, the Gulf of Guinea, the birthplace of Santeria, Candomble and Voodoo. The film highlights the close cultural and religious relationship between the different families of the black Diaspora: the ones from the American continent and the Gnawa culture in northern Africa. Despite the huge distance between them, they share common features that unite them. Our protagonist plunges us into a mystical world, far, apart from his day-to-day life reality as a musician in Europe. As a Gnawa, he takes active part of this unique Sufi brotherhood in Morocco where he is recognized as a master. He lives halfway between two different cultures, the western and African, that only music helps him to reconcile. Bouderbala is a production which plot goes about a fast-paced trip through the desert undertaken with an old snake charmer. Gradually, the old man reveals himself as a wise scholar, versed in the teachings of Bouderbala, a great Sufi Saint of the sixteenth Century. The legend of this saint, who travelled through the Maghreb wearing old rags, imparting wisdom, remains an unavoidable reference for the Moroccan people and an important part of their collective imaginary. Through the stories and lifestyle of the old snake charmer we discover the other side of the people of the Sahara, a land where two sisters cultures come together, sharing a common history. The film lead us to unknown Morocco, away from the commercial and touristic circuits, offering another view of its geography, natural areas and inhabitants. A breath of fresh air. A history marked by great black Diaspora of slavery in North Africa. A world away from religious and cultural topics, revealing the most unusual dreams and lives of the Sahara people.