LIDF

The film is full of contrasts that help the viewer understand the people behind the Kalashnikovs. As they sift through the remains of a village, now a ghost town, they show water barrels full of bullet-holes, sandals covered in blood; the first to put the desert villagers off staying, and the second a realisation of the fate of those who try. And this is the work of the government trying to protect the investment of the foreign investors instead of their own people. Musician Moussa ag Keyna of the band Toumast, meaning ‘identity’, already sang as part of the Tuareg tradition, started writing music when he was injured in active service during the Tuareg’s fight with the armies of the Niger and Mali. Now his band are going global, and the film uses his story of the transition from fighting with arms to his music, along with the music of a predominantly female group, Tilnat, to contrast with visions of soldiers in the desert.

The Panel discussion for the film allowed Andy Morgan, sometime manager of another internationally famous Tuareg band, Tinariwen, Mike Rowland, an anthropologist at UCL, and John Kerry, a photographer who has worked closely with Nomadic peoples of the Sahara, to further explain the plight of this uncounted group of people. The music of these now popular bands isn’t entirely based on the traditional sound of Tuareg music, but 95% of the lyrics are about the situation.

The use of some more western aspects of popular music adds to the already “fluid” Tuareg identity. Dominique Margot explained that she was lucky enough to come across the subject simply by meeting people and becoming interested in their stories. For someone new to the situation in the Niger, and without much more of an understanding of nomadic peoples past the romantic bedouin cliché, this was a compelling afternoon. (Note: As far as is known, BP do not have a presence in the Arlit region.)