Dambé: The Mali Project (2008)

Dambé: The Mali Project is a documentary film directed by Dearbhla Glynn (Dublin to Gaza), and produced by Vanessa Gildea. The film documents Irish musicians Liam Ó Maonlaí and Paddy Keenan embarking on a musical adventure to the Heart of Africa; Mali. Travelling over 3,000 miles they meet and collaborate with everyone from musicians (Afel Bocoum, Toumani Diabaté) to Nomadic Herders, culminating in a unique performance at the world's most remote musical festival; The ‘Festival au Désert’. The film premiered on the 16th of February, 2008, at the 2008 Jameson Dublin International Film Festival. The film was described as "Engrossing, visually rich and surprisingly moving" by Paul Whitington in the Irish Independent, and "A unique work, which is well-told and unexpectedly moving in parts" by Steve Cummins of RTÉ.

Synopsis

The film follows Irish musicians Irish musicians Liam Ó Maonlaí (The Hothouse Flowers) and Paddy Keenan (Uilleann pipes player from The Bothy Band), who was raised in the traveller community, on a journey covering thousands of miles from Bamako in the south to Timbuktu, from where they enter the Sahara.