''Batuque, the Soul of a People'' (French title:''Batuque, l'âme d'un peuple'') is a 2006

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

written and directed by

Júlio Silvão Tavares Júlio Silvão Tavares (born 1959), is a Cape Verdean filmmaker. Career Since 1979, he studied Cape-verdean traditional culture, where he creates a Group of Experimental Theatre when he was the producer and director of the cultural Program 'Dra ...

about the batuque musical group Raiz di Tambarina, and roots of this musical genre in

Santiago, Cape Verde Santiago (Portuguese for “ Saint James”) is the largest island of Cape Verde, its most important agricultural centre and home to half the nation's population. Part of the Sotavento Islands, it lies between the islands of Maio ( to the east) ...

Synopsis

African slaves were first brought to Cape Verde by Portuguese settlers in 1462. These slaves brought with them the cultural rhythm and music which would become Batuque: a musical form punctuated by drums while participants danced in a circle. The dance, repressed during the Colonial era, has been adopted as a symbol of the Cape Verdan cultural identity. The film seeks to document the dance form through interviews and performance by the musical group Raiz di Tambarina.

Cast

Production

''Batuque, the Soul of a People'' was Silvão's first film. He participated in a course with the Africadoc network before beginning production. The film was initially pitched by Silvão in Senegal, filmed in Cape Verde and edited in France.

Reception

Release

The film was screened in Lisbon in November 2010, with the filmmaker in attendance, before traveling to festivals in Brazil and the United States. It had previously screened at ''Africa in the Picture'', Netherlands, the

Copenhagen International Documentary Festival CPH:DOX is the official name for the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, an international documentary film festival established in 2003 and held annually in Copenhagen, Denmark. CPH:DOX has since grown to become one of the largest ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, the 24th

International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is the world's largest documentary film festival held annually since 1988 in Amsterdam. Over a period of twelve days, it has screened more than 300 films and sold more than 250,000 tic ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, the

Africa in Motion Africa in Motion (AiM) is an annual African film festival which takes place in Edinburgh, Scotland, in late October/early November. The primary aim of the festival is to offer audiences in Scotland the opportunity to view the best of African cin ...

film festival,

Edinburgh, Scotland Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, and the AfryKamera Film Festival, Poland.

References

{{reflist

External links

''Batuque, l'âme d'un peuple''
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

Júlio Silvão Tavares
at the

Cape Verdean documentary films Documentary films about women in music 2006 documentary films 2006 films Cape Verdean music Films set in Cape Verde 2006 directorial debut films fr:Batuque – A alma de um povo