Tuesday 20 November - 19.30 hrs / Filmhuis Den Haag

THE REFUGEE ALL STARS

Film screening attended by Alphonse Munyaneza, UNHCR staff member and co-producer of the film. Q&A with Alphonse Munyaneza moderated by journalist Linda Polman.

The intoxicating music of the The Refugee All Stars almost makes you forget that nearly all band members are burdened with grief. However, their lyrics do address their war experiences. When Freetown, the relatively safe capital city of Sierra Leone, came under rebel attack, a massive exodus ensued. The married couple Reuben and Grace met musician Franco in the UNHCR refugee camp of Kalia in neighbouring Guinea. In a next camp they obtained musical instruments through UNHCR and a Canadian development organisation, they recruited the young rapper Black Nature plus Arahim and Mohammed, whose limbs were hacked off by rebels, and the band was born. Following a tour of refugee camps, the band returned to give a concert in the destroyed Freetown, which was declared a safe area in January 2002. The band was followed by a camera crew between August 2002 and October 2005, which served ultimately to catapult them onto the international stage. Performances on American television (live on the Oprah Winfrey show!) and jazz festivals all across the world resulted in the recording of the acclaimed CD ‘Living like a Refugee’, as well as in this documentary that won the public’s award at several film festivals. When offered the opportunity to return to Sierra Leone with the assistance of UNHCR, one of the band members cannot find the courage to make that trip.

Banker White & Zach Niles / USA 2005

78 minutes colour English spoken