Trailer from the film Zenji Flava, a lively documentary about the blossoming hiphopscene on the island Zanzibar off the coast of Tanzania. The position of Zanzibar as an important trading post has allowed its culture to be a gateway for foreign influences. This resulted in a unique scene of musical tradition. In the last decade traditional music lost terrain to a new musical direction. Like most other countries around the world, the youth of Zanzibar has fallen in love with rap music. This is the music they can relate to. It has become the voice of the people that normally wouldn't have a voice. Rap music is also used as a tool to fight against the problems they face like AIDS, poverty and the lack of education. Despite the good intentions of the rap artists, young people in Zanzibar and East Africa as a whole still face a lot of problems with getting their voices heard. This documentary is exploring those difficulties by letting the key players in the islands music scene air out their problems and come up with ideas for a bright future. It will start as a spark and the fire will come later...Zenji Flava will be show at the Film by the Sea festival 2006.
This film is made by Bram Vergeer from the Holland based InSideOut Foundation. It, together with many more films, can be seen on our website www.insideseries.com. Our aim is to present a different view on the daily life of people in countries all over the world, especially in countries which in our opinion are being portrayed in a limited way by the common media. We do this by making documentary films, developing a series of short films mend for the internet (the Inside Series) and stimulating filmmakers across the world. We depend on donor funding and sponsorship. For information please visit our website or contact us through bram@stichtinginsideout.nl
Trailer van de documentairefilm Zenji Flava, over de bloeiende hiphopscene op het Tanzaniase eiland Zanzibar. Dankzij Zanzibars rijke historie als een internationale handelspost is de cultuur is beïnvloed door vele nationaliteiten. Deze invloeden zijn terug te vinden in diverse culturele uitingen waaronder de zeer populaire traditionele muziek Taarab. Het laatste decennium echter lijkt deze eeuwenoude muziekstijl onder de jeugd terrein te verliezen aan rapmuziek. Rap spreekt jongeren direct aan en zij kunnen zich beter identificeren met deze stroming. Deze muziek fungeert als de stem van de jeugd en verwoord de bijbehorende problemen die er spelen, zoals de aanhoudende armoede, gebrek aan educatie en de gevaren van Aids. De film laat goed zien dat rapmuziek nog in zijn kinderschoenen staat in Zanzibar en er nog veel problemen zijn op het gebied van productie en promotie, in tegenstelling tot de immens grote scene op het vaste land van Tanzania. De première van Zenji Flava vindt plaats tijdens het Film by the Sea 2006 festival in Vlissingen.
Tags: africa zanzibar hiphop rap taarab kidude bi insideout foundation zenji flava music
