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The Wood and the Calabash

The Wood and the Calabash MAIN

The Wood and the Calabash

Price: $320.00
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Filmmaker Name: Hugo Zemp
Film Length: 47 min
Film Year: 2002
Duration: 46-75 min
Decade: 2000s
Series: Masters of the Balafon series
Color: color
Subject: Music, Dance & Theater
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ABOUT

Among the Senufo people of northern Côte d'Ivoire, the balafon (xylophone with calabash resonators) is an emblematic musical instrument.

Balafon makers are all musicians, but a balafon player isn't necessarily an instrument maker. The film shows in detail the manufacture of this musical instrument, an indispensable element in the life of the Senufo people. Each step is shown, from the initial prayer to the genies of the balafon before felling a tree, through the cutting and tuning of the keys and the resonators, to the fixing of the buzzing membranes, which give this instrument its very characteristic timbre.

Nanga, the balafon maker, talks about his work and discusses different aspects with friends during a meal.

Films in the Masters of the Balafon series
Friend, Well Come! (with 21 minutes of extras)
Funeral Festivities (with 24 minutes of extras)
The Joy of Youth (with 9 minutes of extras)

Balafon is the name given in French-speaking West Africa to a xylophone with calabash resonators. This instrument is emblematic of the Senufo people of the Côte d'Ivoire (the former Ivory Coast). The balafon is played under differing circumstances and in combination with different groups of instruments. Not for nothing do the peoples of the Côte d'Ivoire call the northern part of their country "the land of the balafon."

Filmed in long sequences to preserve the integrity of the music and speech of the musicians, this series of four documentaries introduces the audience to the fascinating world of a living musical tradition. Each documentary can be viewed independently, as a whole, or in sections indicated by chapter titles. The complete series lasts nearly 4 ½ hours (including extras), providing a full account of a sophisticated African musical tradition.

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