Nahawa Doumbia: going back to the roots

A documentary directed by Henri Lecomte.

Synopsis

Nahawa Doumbia has been one of the most pop­u­lar singers in Mali since the 1980’s. She sings about love but also about Malian women’s liv­ing con­di­tions which can be very dif­fi­cult on account of polygamy or forced mar­riages. Nahawa Doumbia is all the more endear­ing as she per­fectly mixes respect of tra­di­tions with a will to make morals evolve. As a result she has become more and more suc­cess­ful. The film presents Nahawa Doumbia’s every­day life in Buguni, the lit­tle town where she is from. With her we dis­cover how rich the musi­cal tra­di­tion of her region is. We also present her dur­ing rehearsal ses­sions with her musi­cians in Bamako and just before the con­cert she gave at Saint Denis Ger­ard Philippe The­atre for 1996 Christ­mas Eve Afri­color Festival.