Gambia
Open Doors Co-production Lab Will Focus on Sub-Saharan African Cinema This Year
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With support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, the Open Doors section aims to support directors and producers from countries where independent film-making is vulnerable. This initiative focuses on a different region every year and operates in two modes.
On the one hand, the Open Doors Co-production Lab selects 12 film projects from the chosen region, and offers the directors and producers involved, an opportunity to work on their pitching techniques, and to meet with potential partners, mostly from Europe, to foster support for their projects, which would otherwise be difficult to complete.
On the other hand, in order to introduce the Festival audience to the cinematographic and cultural landscape of the chosen region, a number of films are selected each year to be part of the Open Doors Screenings.
Gambia: T-Smallz Grabs Gambian Song of the Year 2013 Award
A song by Gambia’s rising sensation T-Smallz entitled ‘Albulo’ a local Mandinka parlance meaning ‘Clap’, has hit the spotlight again after edging over other songs to earned him Gambian Song of the Year 2013 award.
The song emerged victorious following a stiff competition, voting of which was done online on Gambian Talents Promotions website and on Banjul Night Live on GRTS. Courtesy of Banjul Night Live and The Gambian Talents Promotions, the voting process has been on for six weeks .
According to information gathered by What’s On, the voting process was very interesting as Gibou Balla Gaye was leading for the first-three weeks before Killa Ace took over the chart for a whole week, and Gee later made a comeback. Trobul Smallz during the initial stage of polls has maintained the third place until recently, when he progressed by leading every one including Gee with more than 800 votes, which he maintained for the rest of the voting period. Voting was done through the Gambian Talents website and through Banjul Night Live’s ‘Word on the Street’ segment.
T Smallz won with 24.6% of the total votes on the website and BNL ‘Word on the Streets. Reacting to the development, Pa Ousman Joof, the CEO of Gambian Talents Promotions, on behalf of his agency and Banjul Night Live, congratulated T-Smallz and all the nominees including those who could not make it to the final list. Joof added that a special award ceremony will be held on the Banjul Night Live TV show, stating that this will be done on Sunday January 5th 2013 at the Velvet Club in Senegambia starting at 5pm.
All the nominees will be invited and T-Smallz will be presented with a trophy, a certificate and cash prize. More information about the award ceremony will follow soon. Some of the songs selected for this years’ award include; ‘Albulo’ meaning clap by Trobul Smallz; ‘Mama’ by Killa Ace; Bul Faleh Nyi by Gee; Swag song by Vypa; ‘Damayi’ by Bai Babou; ‘Yenla’ by the Humanity Starz; ‘Red Card’ by Silky Crise; ‘Nnan Kamma’ (take me away) by Manding Morry;’Njunku’ by ST Gambian Dream; and ‘Dream Boy’ by Cess Ngum.
‘I talked to several artists based in different parts of the world. If you follow the podcast, used you will hear my interview with a lot of the nominated artists such as Killa Ace, Bai Babou, Humanity Starz, Vypa, T-Smallz etc” said Joof.
– The Daily Observer
Say’hu – Motherland & The Other Side
Say’hu is a Gambian American rapper Emerging from Charlotte, NC. He was born in Atlanta, Georgia but raised on the smiling coast of Africa. His music stresses the issues of capitalism, poverty, and war and is often loaded with witty metaphors and heart felt messages that everyone can relate to. With hip-hop being his musical root and most important source of inspiration, he cites artist such as 2 Pac, Jay-Z, J. Cole, K’naan & Fugees as key influences in his own pursuit of musical recognition.
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The Other Side is the title of his latest project which is available for free on his Bandcamp page. While he finishes his studies at The University Of North Carolina Charlotte majoring in finance, Say’hu is gearing up for future recording and gaining experience by doing gigs and building his resume as an artist.
With the pragmatic detachment of today’s DIY, socially mediated industry, Say’hu undeniable gift as a musician promises a long and successful future. “I am grateful for the universal nature of music,” notes Say’hu, “It’s made everywhere, by anyone, in as many ways as the human heart can feel. As I see it, if it touches hearts, it’s good music. That’s what I want to make.”
For more on Say’hu check out his official website
This article was written by Ado of AfricanHipHop.com
Mashariki 