Director Johanna Schwartz’s film “They Will Have To Kill Us First: Malian music in exile”, documenting musicians in Mali in the wake of a jihadist takeover and subsequent banning of music, was released in the U.S. early last month.
According to the filmmaker, the film begins with musicians on the run, reveals rare footage of the jihadists, captures life at refugee camps, follows perilous journeys home to battle scarred cities, and witnesses two female characters perform at the first public concert in Timbuktu since the music ban.
The filmmaker guarantees the stories of these artists are told without gloss, describing the overall journey as “sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes inspirational, and sometimes incredibly frustrating as we watch musicians make tough choices about their futures”.
Check out a preview of “They Will Have To Kill Us First” below. And for screenings in a city near you, find out here.
THEY WILL HAVE TO KILL US FIRST – SHORT TRAILER / US THEATRICAL from TWHTKUF – Doc on Vimeo.