South Sudan
Open Doors Co-production Lab Will Focus on Sub-Saharan African Cinema This Year
BY
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.
All aboard! Sudan’s sleek Nile Train
By Ian Timberlake – AFP
Khartoum (AFP) – In a dilapidated, poverty-stricken country where some railway rolling stock is more than 40 years old, Sudan’s sleek, sharp-nosed Nile Train is an unusual sight.
From a distance it looks like a large white snake gliding past fields of green near the Nile River north of Khartoum.
On January 20 the train began daily passenger service — Sudan’s first in years — as part of efforts to revive the railway system despite an economic crisis that has left the country ravaged by inflation and starving for hard currency.
“This new train is really, really modern,” says Ahmed Hussein, the project manager for Sudan Railways Corporation.
The four coaches roll out of the once-abandoned station in an industrial area of North Khartoum at 9:00 am every day, heading north with two stops before reaching the railway junction town of Atbara.
The journey of close to 300 kilometres (186 miles) takes six hours and 40 minutes. That is roughly twice as long as a bus but a lot quicker than the old trains serving Sudan’s other passenger rail destinations — all two of them.
The train to Nyala, in war-torn Darfur, goes every two weeks, while another makes a weekly trip north of Atbara to Wadi Halfa near the Egyptian border.
Even though track conditions have restricted speeds of the Nile Train, it has proven so popular that in March the railway doubled its frequency to twice daily in the corridor which is already heavily-travelled by buses, transport trucks and private cars.
Hussein said every Nile Train service is almost full with an average passenger load of around 284.
Sudan bought two of the trains from China at a total cost of around $13 million, which is being paid over about four years, he said.
Safer than the bus
“I think most people travelling between Khartoum and Atbara will stop using buses and change to this new train,” said Hannah Ali Mohammed, 35, marveling at how, unlike older trains, the air-conditioned coaches kept her clothes free of desert dust during the trip to North Khartoum.
A student, Ahmed Al-Haj Omer, 23, said it was his first time riding the rails.
“I enjoyed it,” he said. “It’s safer. There are a lot of bus accidents on the road between Khartoum and Atbara.”
A bus ticket also costs about 50 percent more than the 51-pound ($6) train trip.
Hassan Abdulmajid, 52, said he has already used the Nile Train four times and hopes other parts of the country will get a similar service.
That is the plan, says Hussein, but the first obstacle to overcome is the track.
“Unfortunately, we have only one track,” meaning freight and passenger services share the same narrow-gauge rails, although the company is doing its best to upgrade what they have, he said.
Sudanese and Chinese firms have been replacing wooden railway ties with concrete on the Khartoum-Atbara line, while track work has also started between Atbara and the trade centre of Port Sudan, he said.
Rehabilitation of the line to Wad Medani, in Sudan’s once-thriving agricultural heartland, will follow soon, Hussein said.
After that, service by modern coaches like the Nile Train can be expanded.
This was part of former general manager Makawi Mohammed Awad’s vision for restoring the railway, employees say.
In December, Awad was named to the cabinet where he is minister of oil.
The Khartoum-Atbara route formed part of the main line to Port Sudan and dates from 1898, the year before Britain and Egypt began to jointly administer Sudan, the railway’s website says.
“It played a very important role in unifying the country,” said veteran newspaper columnist Mahjoub Mohamed Salih, who hasn’t used the railway in about 30 years.
An efficient rail system would be an asset for the country which has been desperate for hard currency since the loss of about 75 percent of its oil production when South Sudan separated in 2011.
“It will remain that railways are the cheapest system for your exports,” Salih said.
A railway morgue
Lack of money played a role in the railway’s decline but so did political factors, according to the columnist, who said the government of President Omar al-Bashir, fearing labour unrest, dismissed thousands of skilled railway employees in the 1990s.
Khartoum has been under a United States trade embargo since 1997, and Mohamed Oro Saliem Mohamed, the railway’s locomotive and rolling stock manager, says all of Sudan’s American-made engines are idle because of a parts shortage.
Others are still able to pull 20-25 freight trains around the country daily, he says, adding with a slight chuckle that some are very old.
“Some of them, 1970. Some of them, 1960… but rehabilitated.”
Many of the roughly 49 functional locomotives have been purchased in recent years from China, and five more are on the way, Mohamed says.
Decaying grey and yellow coaches from decades past lie abandoned behind his central Khartoum railway headquarters.
It is a railway morgue, but alongside the corpses are signs of life.
In recent months a new dirt road has been built into the site where pedestrians used to wander freely. A fence has gone up, and Sudanese workers hammer away at severed pieces of track. A backhoe digs, and a Chinese technician has set up his surveying tool on a tripod.
Train horns are heard more frequently in the city.
For newspaper columnist Salih the Nile Train and accompanying improvements are a small step “but not much”.
“I think the collapse of Sudan Railways is total, and partial rehabilitation will not do,” he said.
“But they have to start somewhere.”
East African Artists Sing for Peace in South Sudan
South Sudanese peace activist and rapper Emmanuel Jal joined by artists from East Africa for a concert aimed at calling for peace and reconciliation.
All pictures by Quaint Photography. See more pictures of the concert here
The African Music Business: How quickly it changes
By Kuel Lual Deng
As far back as we can remember, music has and will always be an integral part of the African culture. Music complements our ceremonies and religious functions. There is need for music at birth, death, marriage, engagement, birthday, formal parties and even during praise and worship. South Sudan has many different cultures that have always brought their unique traditions and sounds to the table.
Worldwide, the music business has changed drastically in the last decade and a half. Technology paved paths never before imagined in the music business. The internet opened new mediums for people to access music and album sales declined, creating a panic in the old order of doing things, at least the Western world’s music business was panicking. Africa, not at all. The music studios or few record labels that were operating did not have the ‘luxury’ of having their albums bought as much and there was no proper system in place for people to buy albums. Or people just did not buy albums.
All the way from the 60s through to the mid-90s, the only acceptable music was mainly traditional sounds: Rumba, Lingala and Zouk, among others. Urban music (music perceived to be from the West) was viewed as unnecessary and a nuisance. Rumba, Lingala and Zouk were hugely successful within the African community (and somewhat continue to be but with a more updated sound, i.e, Fally Ipupa) but much of their popularity started to wane by the early 2000s due to the younger generation wanting to identify with a more global urban sound, mainly hip-hop. With the emergence of this new sound, the industry as a whole had its mind on competing with what came in from the West. Unfortunately, the ‘revolution’ came in at a time when the West was losing a grip on its sales of albums due to the emergence of the internet and the old model of doing business was beginning to change, yet Africa had just started out. The hype seemed to be dying, as it was now being viewed as a losing game globally.
Fast forward to 2006: the hype is not just hype any more, it is now a reality. A number of formidable entertainment power houses spring up all the way from the coasts of Cape Town, South Africa, through the streets of Nairobi, Kenya, up to the oil-rich country of Nigeria, in the streets of Lagos.
The Nigerian movie industry was (and still is) releasing a crazy amount of movies a year to rival the famous Hollywood and Bollywood film industries and even looks set to surpass them. And the Nigerian movie industry was not the only industry that looked to explode. Its music industry also started releasing new acts with ear-catching tunes at an unstoppable rate, a trend that still continues well into 2013 and has shown no signs of losing momentum.
Big budget videos from artistes such as D’banj ‘The Kokomaster’, 2Face Idiba and P-Square and many others started to hit the airwaves, a move that was now giving a number of entertainment power houses – mainly South African – a run for their money. Up until that point, the South African entertainment groups undoubtedly had a lion’s share of the entertainment industry, thanks to their music television channels such as Channel O.
In the midst of all this, a number of African countries could not just resist the urge to play a part. A number of African countries had already been players but this new system asked for a bit more than just sound. There was the introduction of a new type of fresh. Having ‘the hit’ then targeting radio and thinking that was it just did not cut it anymore. One had to be business savvy, or at least align with the people that understood this was a whole new ball game.
The night life was bubbling EVERYWHERE in Africa, as compared to the 90s and this gave a major boost to the music industry as they work hand in hand. New nightclubs, new promoters (many of whom had travelled the world and brought home fresh ideas), new entertainment companies and a whole bunch of new artists all sprung up throughout the continent. This all played a part in the promotion of artists, as African artistes as opposed to the 90s when it was strictly international acts were now doing shows/concerts. Nightclubs were now playing music from African artistes as opposed to when it was only Western artistes you heard bursting through the speakers. Everything seemed to be going on smoothly, everyone seemed happy but there was a major problem. A majority of them were hardly making any money. This forced many African artistes to consider making a name for themselves out of the continent where promises of profits made sense. Some worked hard and managed to get deals that signed them to American owned labels. Some managed to get deals that would guarantee their success in Europe. Some were not so lucky and their lights dimmed. Some did not mind working harder on the continent and they, too, got lucky.
The reality is, only a handful of artistes are actually making a living off their music. Shows are hard to come by for the newer artistes, the more established artistes have the advantage because they guarantee sold out shows. Nobody is buying albums (by the late 90s that had already started failing in the West even with a perfect system in place) and piracy is rampant. Governments are doing nothing to fight piracy, even the laws some countries have put in place do not help, mainly because they are not enforced. Artistes complain about piracy but the reality is, IT WILL NOT STOP.
Access to music is extremely easy, with the internet and ease in exchange of Mp3 audios in portable devices and portable music players, people will continue burning CDs at any chance they get. Why buy ‘XXXX’s’ album when I can just get it from a friend as soon as the album is downloaded? A question most potential buyers seem to ask when asked if they will purchase an album, whether the artiste is African or international does not matter.
Music streaming services like Spotify, Rhapsody, Yala Music and Pandora have been hugely popular with the Western market but still have not had a major impact in Africa. One popular music service company, iTunes launched on December 2012 in South Africa. South Africans are now able to purchase music and music videos in local currency from Apple’s iTunes store, and use the popular Match service. iTunes Match allows Apple to scan users’ music libraries and match songs for playback from its servers. The service costs R199.99 (US$11) year. Music not in the iTunes Store can be uploaded for playback and download to supported devices.
Apple’s launch of a local music store came on the heels of Microsoft’s announcing plans to launch Xbox Music in South Africa. French streaming service Deezer, Germany’s Simfy in partnership with Primedia’s eXactmobile and Rara, a UK-based service have all launched in South Africa with plans of launching all over Africa in the next few years. Nokia’s music streaming service, Nokia Music + has already launched in South Africa too. Informa, a London-based research company estimates that ‘70 percent of the African music business consists of local repertoire, with international artists, who dominate elsewhere, representing only a minority of what people are listening to‘. This should be a good thing for the African market ,as it suggests there is a market for the artistes on the continent.
Mobile music services are on the rise as the market is starting to realize it is a profit making service – a huge profit making service. For example, in Kenya, the largest mobile service operator, Safaricom has three different music portals, each geared towards a different type of service. Skiza is the most profitable which offers ‘caller ringback tones’ (i.e the music that is heard by the caller). The service costs Ksh5 per song per week and with close to 4 million subscribers, this service could as well gross around US$10 million per year. South Sudan’s mobile operators are not being left out of the game either. Two of the most successful mobile operators, Vivacell and MTN also offer the services but they have been too slow to catch up because of virtually no system in place to work with local artistes. No proper research has been done to provide customers with their preferred songs (for example, making Lil Wayne songs instead of local artistes) and lack of marketing.
Digital music services such as Deezer have made agreements with mobile service networks such as Orange with countries in West Africa in an effort to expand.
The most notable is the rise of Nigerian iROKO Partners, an online media distribution company focused on the Nigerian Entertainment Industry. The company was established in September 2010 and is headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria with a branch in London, United Kingdom. iROKO Partners launched iROKING in December 2011, a free music streaming service offering streaming of selected music from a range of African labels and artists. Music can be browsed by direct searches, artist, album and playlists. iROKING has also launched mobile applications for its music services.
iRoking in most situations stands in as an artiste’s record label, representing them and signing digital deals on their behalf due to many musicians uploading their music to the internet and getting no returns. iRoko Partners attracted an US$8 million investment from Tiger Global Management.
Many services are making their way into the continent, mainly from Asia but the most notable would be Samsung’s partnership with USA’s Universal Music Group (the largest music corporation in the world) to form The Kleek. The website itech.com covered the new partnership:
“A new mobile music streaming service called The Kleek will debut in Africa as the result of a partnership between Samsung and Universal Music Group. The two companies are working with African and international record labels on the platform. The Kleek will be free and available exclusively on Samsung smartphones for the first two years, THR reports. The service was first announced at the Samsung Africa Forum in Cape Town, South Africa. Samsung recognizes that the African market is very different to that of its European, Asian and American counterparts,” said Thabiet Allie, head of content and services at Samsung Electronics Africa. ‘We are thus, through our Built for Africa initiatives, focused on building services and partnering with the best local and international content owners, and this partnership is testament to that’.”
Max Hole, chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group International had this to add,
“By investing in the Kleek we’re providing a platform for the very best of African talent to reach a wider audience. With the explosion of smartphones and other mobile devices, the Kleek has the potential to attract tens of millions of music fans across Africa.”
Randall Abrahams, managing director, Universal Music South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, said the service aims to become a platform for emerging artistes as well as international stars. Seeing that services such as Spotify, one of the world’s most used music streaming services is not yet available in Africa, African artists might as well use this platform to the maximum.
The New York Times too covered the partnership:
“The music business recently celebrated a milestone in the form of its first annual revenue growth since 1999, but one region, Africa, was unable to join the party. Digital music, responsible for the improvement in the industry’s brighter overall outlook, has failed to catch on across much of Africa. But that may be about to change, as new local and international digital music services open or expand, suggesting that industry executives and investors see potential for profit.
In one of the highest-profile moves so far, Universal Music Group and Samsung announced this month the creation of The Kleek, a Pan-African digital music service. It features music from Universal’s international catalog and from local artists like the Power Boyz in Angola, DJ Vetkuk in South Africa and W4 in Nigeria.”
Francis Keeling, the London-based global head of the digital business at Universal, said, “It’s easy to turn on digital services in new markets. The difference is, are they going to have local content, editorial teams and realistic pricing, along with active marketing. We looked at the market for a long time and decided that Africa needed its own service, aimed at African consumers.”
Companies are now seeking ways to gain exclusive access to content by getting into production and event management. Safaricom, in Kenya, has started sponsoring concerts, most notable the ‘Niko Na Safaricom Live Concert‘ that features artists such as the hugely popular groups Sauti Sol and Camp Mulla among other artists. The main aim here is to position their presence strongly in the music mobile service arena. And, as most have witnessed, they are doing it right.
Cedric Muhammad served as general manager of the multi-platinum hip-hop music act from the United States, Wu-Tang Clan, negotiating its tour with Rage Against the Machine in 1997, and endorsement deal with Pepsi Co. That same year, he established an inner city consulting firm advising McDonald’s Corporation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, among others. He wrote an article on the popular hip-hop site, AllHipHop.com, titled, ‘Africa: The Next Throne of Hip-Hop’ dated May 18, 2010, where he analysed the music industry.
The question now is, as a new nation on the African continent, how does this relate to South Sudan and are we ready to compete with big powerhouses or do we still need time to learn the ropes in order to catch up with our companions? And because the music industry is an arena with many players, not only comprised of artistes, what business models can be adapted to ensure successes for our producers, our DJ’s, our promoters, our investors? What part can the corporate world play in this? How do we take full advantage of technology to ensure we are up to par with international industry standards? And with a number of African governments starting to realise the potential that the entertainment industry has, especially on the economy, some even setting aside budgets to ensure its livelihood, how can the entertainment industry work with the government hand in hand?
While the questions are debatable and everyone will have their own opinion on the matter, the reality is, the world will not wait for us to catch up. Neither will Africa. We will either have to be quick on our feet or be forced to use the resources we have, while this will, of course, have its own mistakes, it will no doubt polish our entertainment industry. The main advantage we have is not having to go in completely blind. We have been able to watch major players commit mistakes, mistakes we can learn from and work on.
One thing is for sure though; it will be exciting to see South Sudan be a major player in the African music industry. Who knows maybe we will give a few global players a run for their money. We already have Emmanuel Jal to show, do not we, why not send a few more?
*Kuel Lual Deng is the CEO of Illusion Management, a Nairobi, Kenya-based music promotions and marketing company. He currently resides in Juba, South Sudan. First published in http://www.worldhiphopmarket.com
South Sudan Artist Dynamq promotes Ruka Muzik- new music genre
By Sudan Returnee
His name is Kennedy Ong’ele Lorya but is known as ‘Dynamq’ (pronounced Dynamic). He was born in Juba, Sudan and is now based in Atlanta.
Dynamq Lorya appears to have found a name for his unique style of music, and his fans are pouring in their ‘likes’ and support.
Ruka Muzik, according Dynamq aka Sudanese Child, is the style that identifies his music. It is a mix of dance-hall, zouk, R&B and Soukous.
“l started Ruka Muzik about two years ago and prior to that l was in search of a sound that fitted me. I found it when l wrote the song Kalamat deh wosulu,” he says
“Most of athletes like to listen to music when warming up for a big races but for me i like RUKA MUZIK by Dynamg Lorya. I Support RUKA MUZIK” – Sudanese – born US Athlete Lopez Lomong declares.
Ruka Muzik has been getting lots of support and has taken me all over the world – Australia, Finland, Germany, France, Belgium, Canada, several states in the US, just to name a few.”
Dynamq sings in English, Swahili and Juba Arabic, a lingua franca spoken mainly in South Sudan.
Along with other renowned South Sudanese artists like Emmanuel Kembe, Yaba Angelosi, Sultan Clintone and Emmanuel Jal, Dynamq is among the few South Sudanese artists who have succeeded to gain international recognition and respect. He has won several awards, and all indicators show the world has not seen the best of him yet.
The Dynamq Sound of South Sudan – An insightful interview with Assumpta Ozua
Firstly, how did you get the name Dynamq?
The name ‘Dynamq’ was a nick name given to me by my friends on the football field. It really got big after doing a sound check once and my voice was so strong on the mic that my friends kept saying my voice sounded dynamic, so that’s how it picked up.
I read that your family fled to Kenya when you were quite young. How would you describe your upbringing?
It was a struggle. I lost my father and my brother when I was young. From what my family has been through, I truly appreciate life. My mother was the only survivor after a horrific plane crash in Sudan which is what led to us moving to Kenya as that was the only place where she could get adequate hospital treatment. I was lucky enough to have a father who was educated and had a little money behind him. My mother was in hospital for three years! We were only able to leave Sudan because my father paid a visiting Church from Norway, and they helped us [me and my two younger sisters] to leave the country. My two older brothers had to stay to look after other family members who lived with us. My two older brothers eventually joined us five years later but, one of them got sick and died. It was after my brother died, that I started listening to music a lot. It relaxed me. My youngest sister (Veronica) never got to meet my brother who died so she used to ask us about him a lot. We were the first Sudanese people to move to Kawangware. Any disrespect that you can imagine, we got it from the Kenyan’s. But my parents always tried to keep us strong. Sadly a few years later my father died and that’s when everything went wrong because my mother was not educated past the 8th grade.
What was it like for you surviving life in the refugee camp?
[laughs] The refugee camp was no joke. When you woke up, you would have to go out and look for food. The United Nations only gave us one meal a day. It was there that my love for music started picking up even more. There was a Sudanese guy who came from India with a three stringed guitar and I used to sit and listen to him play. We used to sit and read newspapers that were 5 years old just so that we wouldn’t forget how to read!
How would you describe yourself?
I am a people person. I was very hard headed. One of my favorite musicians back then was Ras Kimono and I used to listen to a lot of his music.
How did you eventually end up in America?
Through a refugee resettlement program. You applied through the UN. Not everyone got chosen – they picked a name at random. Once you got on it, you could apply for your immediate family to come and join you. My brother was chosen and then he applied for us to join him.
Out of every career path you could have followed, why did you choose music?
Music is the only thing that unites my people. In South Sudan there is a lot of tribalism and what music does it makes everyone dance. It makes a lot of people think too.
What inspires you and your music in general? Is it personal experiences or just what you see around you?
Personal experiences, what I see around me. One thing I really dislike is African women still being treated like they are nothing. Not only African women but women in general. I love my mother so much. I just feel like – women really motivate me a lot. I cannot say I know exactly what women go through but I can try to understand because I grew up with my mother and four sisters. Seeing Kawangware, Nairobi, America and how beautiful they are inspires me and wondering what it would be like if Sudan were like that one day? Also life itself inspires me.
I hear that Wayne Wonder is your mentor, how did you meet him and how did he end up being your mentor?
I’ve always been a fan of Wayne Wonder. I used to DJ and used to perform on sound systems back in Kenya – just for fun. I would always outshine the artists on the flyers because I would just vibe with the crowd. I got a chance to meet Wayne Wonder in Houston, Texas at a DJ called Bronco’s birthday. He’s a down to earth person and asked me a lot about Africa. I started sending him my music and he started listening to it and he’d call me back and tell me what I could do differently. We’ve just been friends every since then.
You’ve just finished your new album – how would you describe its sound?
It’s a mixture of reggae. I have some acoustic fusion kinda sound. I was very fortunate enough to do a song with Erica Newell called ‘Mama’ and a song with my cousin. I got the chance to work with Hakim (of Sunland Music). He produced the song ‘Mama Africa’ for Akon, he’s also produced for New Kids on the Block, Youssou N’dour . He’s produced three tracks for me and I produced the rest.
What was touring like?
It has its ups and downs. The one thing I dislike about it is staying away from my family. I’ve toured all over America and Canada.
Do you prefer live performances or studio?
There’s nothing like a live performance. Live performances are the best.
What or who, inspired the song ‘Nobody’?
[laughs and breaks into song] At the time I was dating a certain individual and we went to the club and saw one of my friends who was going though a lot with his girl. The song was number 1 in Bermuda for six months. It’s amazing because Sudanese people did not even know about the song. Even till today, a lot of Sudanese people meet me and don’t think I’m Sudanese until I start speaking Arabic to them.
Do you often get recognised?
Well, first of all, I’m like the most laid back person. Whenever I go to Sudanese events, people recognize me. When I go to Caribbean events, DJ’s recognize me and then the crowd will be like “oh that’s him”.
Tell us a little about your record label: River Nile Ent.
It’s more of a record label slash production company because I can play four instruments. So I thought I would start something to enable me to help people. I really want to help a lot of young musicians to put their music out there because I know I went through hell in the beginning. I started River Nile Ent with my childhood best friend Hubert Luka – but his nick name is Loro.
Would you like to work with any other Sudanese artists or meet any other Sudanese Diaspora?
I have met Emmanuel Jal – he’s a friend of mine and I’d definitely want to work with him. I like his style. I also want to work with Omar Hisas from Dafur. When we did the Sudanese artists on tour here in America, he was my roommate. I didn’t know he was such a legend until I googled him and went to YouTube. I’m always open to work with anybody whose down for anything positive because I’m all about uplifting humanity.
Finally, would you prefer critical acclaim or commercial success?
[laughs] If I ever make it to the commercial level, I’m still not going to change who I am. Critical acclaim would be nice. I definitely want to do my thing for the people. I don’t want to be commercialized.
Finally, where can people find you?
You can purchase Dynamq’s album ‘The Sudanese Child’ on iTunes and at his shows.
Mashariki 