
They Will Have to Kill Us First
GBR 2015 105’01.10 SA 19.00 @A Door Called Horse
DIRECTED BY: Johanna Schwartz
SCREENPLAY BY: Andy Morgan
PRODUCED BY: Kat Amara Korba, Sarah Mosses, Johanna Schwartz, John Schwartz, Andre Singer
CAST: Aliou Touré, Oumar Touré, Garba Touré, Khaira Arby, Fadimata ‘Disco’ Walett Oumar, Moussa Sidi
In 2012, northern Mali was taken over by jihadis, who in the name of an extreme Sharia law forbade all forms of music. Radio stations were closed down and artists, whose safety was put in question, were forced into exile. Johanna Schwartz follows their lives in a cruel world, where death and torture became a sad reality. The director does not look away from violence, documenting it without compromise. She immortalizes an amazing need for freedom of emotional release through singing and playing instruments – a freedom which the film’s heroes believe is at times worth even dying for.