The Malamini Family - Documentary about a musicians family in Gambia (1994)
Malamini Jorbeth is a Jali from Gambia, West Africa. A Jali is a musician, a storyteller, a historian, an entertainer and a herold. Nowadays in adition to
performing on family celebrations and official gatherings they make music for tourists and on concerts in Gambia and abroad. Malamini, who is leading us through the film plays the Kora, a string instrument; he is telling us about his instrument and his music, introduces us to his extended family and his four wives, shares with us the happy moments and difficulties in his familylife and gives us by doing that a very intimate inside in life on the Westcoast of Africa. But even here the influence of the West is obvious. Whereas the Jalis used to have the cultural task of keeping the oral history and tradition alive, nowadays music is seen more and more as entertainment. Amplifiers and microphones are beeing used; and even though Malamini thinks that, "Jalimusic does not fit together with electronics. A Jali has to sing by himself without a band", he knows, that the audience expects more. Competition is getting harder...
script, directing: Lew Hohmann
camera: Martin Rötger
editing: Andreas Grüttner
sound: Rudolf Schwarz