Sams Orkester / Zimbabwe Township Music: 1930's to 1960

(Samův orchestr - Sam's Orchestra / Zimbabwe: hudba z předměstí 1930 - 1960 - Zimbabwe Township Music: 1930's to 1960)
Lisette Boman / Joyce Jenje Makwenda / ŠVÉ / Zimbabwe, 2002
original version / Czech sub-subtitles, 65 min

  • A short film from Sweden, filled with African rhythms and a wry sense of humor, that challenges society's preconceived stereotypes, and portrays a magical moment in an otherwise ordinary day.

  • Zimbabwe Township Music is a celebration of the popular styles that have evolved in this Southern African country since the 1930s. The urban music of the Black townships at the time was a product of a complex mixture of lively traditional rhythms and contemporary international forms such as jazz and rock and roll, spawning such variants as kwela, marabi, jive and Afro-rock. Township music became a symbol of identity and dissent and mirrored the tense political situation of the era. When Zimbabwe achieved independence in 1980, this music was ackowledged as a formative part of the struggle, resurfaced to long-anticipated reception and revival.