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A regarder aussi "When We Were Kings", film documentaire américain réalisé par Leon Gast en 1996. Le documentaire revient sur le célèbre combat de boxe poids lourds du 30 octobre 1974 entre Muhammad Ali et George Foreman à Kinshasa et du climat qui l'entoure : ambiance, concerts (James Brown, BB King, The Spinners), retour des Afro-américains en Afrique.
La vidéo du combat aussi, moins funky que le film ;)
A documentary on the legendary soul music concert staged in Kinshasa, Zaire in 1974 resented in conjunction with the landmark "Rumble in the Jungle" boxing match between famed pugilists Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, Zaire '74 was a three-day music festival in Kinshasa that was organized by South African musician Hugh Masekela and American record producer Stewart Levine, and featured performances by such famed musicians as James Brown, Bill Withers, and B.B. King, among others.
Many of the American musicians performing at Zaire '74 had been emboldened by the American Civil Rights movement, and saw their journey to Africa as a unique opportunity not just to perform for a new set of enthusiastic fans, but to explore their roots as well.
However, while the forward-thinking promoters of Zaire '74 hired a talented team of documentary filmmakers to capture everything from the setup to the performances to everyday life in Kinshasa, the project ran into trouble when the Liberian investment group that financed the festival and film ran into some rather serious legal disputes.
For the next three decades, the remarkable footage would sit untouched and unedited -- a valuable sociohistorical artifact seemingly forgotten, and left to succumb to the ravages of time. Later, in 1996, the rights were settled in order to help facilitate the completion of When We Were Kings, an Academy Award-winning documentary focusing on the very same Ali/Foreman match that took place alongside the Zaire '74 music festival.
Recognizing the need to assemble the neglected Zaire '74 footage while it was still possible, When We Were Kings editor Jeffrey Levy-Hinte made it his own personal mission to see the long gestating project through to completion.
The result is not simply a concert film featuring some of the most popular African and American musicians of the era, but also a pure cinéma vérité glimpse into a time when the musical crossover between the two nations was just beginning to emerge. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Soul Power Zaire 1974
On célèbre aujourd'hui, 30 octobre 2014, le 40eme anniversaire du mythique match de boxe qui se déroula à Kinshasa entre Mohammed Ali et George Foreman.
En prélude de ce combat s'était déroulé le festival "Soul Music" réunissant les plus grands noms de la scène Rythm & Blues américaine du moment et d'Afrique australe, comme James Brown,Bill Withers, B B King, The Spinners, Miriam Makeba...
Voici le teaser du documentaire "Soul Power", le film dans son intégralité (1h30) est à visionner ci dessous:
Réalisé avec les rushes de When We Were Kings, le documentaire de Leon Gast sur le combat de boxe qui opposa à Kinshasa (Zaïre), en 1974, Mohamed Ali à George Foreman, Soul Power retrace l'aventure du grand concert qui l'a accompagné. Les plus grandes stars de la soul de l'époque sont venues sur place : James Brown, B.B. King, Bill Withers, Miriam Makeba...
Le film suit leur voyage, leur arrivée sur place, et la série de concerts qu'ils ont donnée ensemble.
Nourri par leur musique, par l'aura et par l'humour des personnages, le film rend compte de l'esprit de l'époque, de la manière notamment dont être une super star comme James Brown n'exigeait pas, alors, de se couper entièrement de la foule et du monde.
L'événement n'est pas idéalisé, bien au contraire : on saisit ici comment un certain idéalisme lié au "retour aux origines" se mêlait, dans la démarche de ces musiciens d'origine afro américaine pour la plupart, à des considérations purement mercantiles...
Le film vaut pour quelques moments d'anthologie : une conversation avec un B.B. King survolté dans sa loge, une autre avec Mohamed Ali, une autre avec James Brown... Et surtout pour une série de formidables captations de leurs performances live à Kinshasa.
L'affiche,surréaliste, du combat qui avait été finalement reporté au 30 octobre suite à une blessure de Georges Foreman.
A regarder aussi "When We Were Kings", film documentaire américain réalisé par Leon Gast en 1996. Le documentaire revient sur le célèbre combat de boxe poids lourds du 30 octobre 1974 entre Muhammad Ali et George Foreman à Kinshasa et du climat qui l'entoure : ambiance, concerts (James Brown, BB King, The Spinners), retour des Afro-américains en Afrique.
La vidéo du combat aussi, moins funky que le film ;)
A documentary on the legendary soul music concert staged in Kinshasa, Zaire in 1974 resented in conjunction with the landmark "Rumble in the Jungle" boxing match between famed pugilists Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, Zaire '74 was a three-day music festival in Kinshasa that was organized by South African musician Hugh Masekela and American record producer Stewart Levine, and featured performances by such famed musicians as James Brown, Bill Withers, and B.B. King, among others.
Many of the American musicians performing at Zaire '74 had been emboldened by the American Civil Rights movement, and saw their journey to Africa as a unique opportunity not just to perform for a new set of enthusiastic fans, but to explore their roots as well.
However, while the forward-thinking promoters of Zaire '74 hired a talented team of documentary filmmakers to capture everything from the setup to the performances to everyday life in Kinshasa, the project ran into trouble when the Liberian investment group that financed the festival and film ran into some rather serious legal disputes.
For the next three decades, the remarkable footage would sit untouched and unedited -- a valuable sociohistorical artifact seemingly forgotten, and left to succumb to the ravages of time. Later, in 1996, the rights were settled in order to help facilitate the completion of When We Were Kings, an Academy Award-winning documentary focusing on the very same Ali/Foreman match that took place alongside the Zaire '74 music festival.
Recognizing the need to assemble the neglected Zaire '74 footage while it was still possible, When We Were Kings editor Jeffrey Levy-Hinte made it his own personal mission to see the long gestating project through to completion.
The result is not simply a concert film featuring some of the most popular African and American musicians of the era, but also a pure cinéma vérité glimpse into a time when the musical crossover between the two nations was just beginning to emerge. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
A regarder aussi "When We Were Kings", film documentaire américain réalisé par Leon Gast en 1996. Le documentaire revient sur le célèbre combat de boxe poids lourds du 30 octobre 1974 entre Muhammad Ali et George Foreman à Kinshasa et du climat qui l'entoure : ambiance, concerts (James Brown, BB King, The Spinners), retour des Afro-américains en Afrique.
La vidéo du combat aussi, moins funky que le film ;)
A documentary on the legendary soul music concert staged in Kinshasa, Zaire in 1974 resented in conjunction with the landmark "Rumble in the Jungle" boxing match between famed pugilists Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, Zaire '74 was a three-day music festival in Kinshasa that was organized by South African musician Hugh Masekela and American record producer Stewart Levine, and featured performances by such famed musicians as James Brown, Bill Withers, and B.B. King, among others.
Many of the American musicians performing at Zaire '74 had been emboldened by the American Civil Rights movement, and saw their journey to Africa as a unique opportunity not just to perform for a new set of enthusiastic fans, but to explore their roots as well.
However, while the forward-thinking promoters of Zaire '74 hired a talented team of documentary filmmakers to capture everything from the setup to the performances to everyday life in Kinshasa, the project ran into trouble when the Liberian investment group that financed the festival and film ran into some rather serious legal disputes.
For the next three decades, the remarkable footage would sit untouched and unedited -- a valuable sociohistorical artifact seemingly forgotten, and left to succumb to the ravages of time. Later, in 1996, the rights were settled in order to help facilitate the completion of When We Were Kings, an Academy Award-winning documentary focusing on the very same Ali/Foreman match that took place alongside the Zaire '74 music festival.
Recognizing the need to assemble the neglected Zaire '74 footage while it was still possible, When We Were Kings editor Jeffrey Levy-Hinte made it his own personal mission to see the long gestating project through to completion.
The result is not simply a concert film featuring some of the most popular African and American musicians of the era, but also a pure cinéma vérité glimpse into a time when the musical crossover between the two nations was just beginning to emerge. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
