THE WASHINGTON POST!!!!! Legends of Madagascar has been reviewed in the Washington Post!!!!! Yayyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Il y a un excellent article sur MALAGASY MANKANY dans le WASHINGTON POST dhier!!!! (y) (y) (y) :) See the second part of Celia Wrens paper: The other ‘Madagascar’ Traveling abroad allows the Jingju Theater Company to celebrate the past. Travel abroad has allowed Malagasy filmmaker Haminiaina Ratovoarivony to ponder the present and the future. Ratovoarivony says his expatriate status — he currently lives in Chicago — gave him the perspective and boldness he needed to make “Malagasy Mankany (Legends of Madagascar),” an award-winning Malagasy-language movie set in the eponymous island nation off Africa’s eastern coast. Coming to town with the African Diaspora International Film Festival 2014 — the Aug. 23 screening, which will have English subtitles, is billed as the film’s D.C. premiere — “Legends of Madagascar” is a road movie with comic inflections and a crime-drama twist. The story follows a young student named Jimi (Ben Elissar) as he travels from Antananarivo, the country’s capital, to his native village to visit his sick father. Along for the ride, in a none-too-reliable Mini Cooper, are two of Jimi’s buddies: the laid-back Bob (Mahon Andoniaina), who hosts a clandestine radio show, and the surly Dylan (Ratovoarivony), who has been involved in far shadier activities. As the three guys — plus a beautiful damsel in distress named Charu (Valeska Sanjy) — travel through the Malagasy countryside, they confront potholes, police roadblocks, a mysterious hitchhiker, and personal secrets that threaten to break into the open. The screenwriter and producer of the movie, as well as the director and co-star, Ratovoarivony calls “Legends of Madagascar” his attempt “to answer this question from the African perspective: ‘What is the African people’s responsibility in the fact that Africa is so rich but so poor?’” By “rich,” he elaborated, speaking by phone from Chicago, he means that Africa is blessed in natural resources and smart, hard-working people. So why is poverty such a big problem for a country like Madagascar? Ratovoarivony felt he had gained some insights into the question while doing field work for his undergraduate degree in sociology at Antananarivo University. He wanted to share those insights with the public—including international audiences, who may associate Madagascar less with social realities than with the island’s spectacular biodiversity (or the DreamWorks Animation hit). A movie—a project he was equipped to tackle, having obtained a graduate degree in filmmaking in France—seemed the best way to pursue his goal. Shot on location in 2011 with a Malagasy cast and crew, many of whom were alumni of a moviemaking workshop Ratovoarivony had previously led (he also roped in family and friends), “Legends of Madagascar” touches on the problem of corruption, as well as the issue of tensions between the native and Indian immigrant communities. After the movie’s world premiere in Madagascar in 2012, the movie made rounds on the international festival circuit, proceeding to win multiple honors — including an award, last year, from the Hollywood Black Film Festival. For all its serious, sociologically informed messaging, Ratovoarivony calls “Legends of Madagascar” a comedy. “The goal was to make people laugh — but, at the end, to make them think,” he says. By Celia Wren August 15 ---------------------------- washingtonpost/entertainment/music/jingju-theater-at-the-kennedy-center/2014/08/14/b6fba252-2183-11e4-8b10-7db129976abb_story.html
Posted on: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 04:40:28 +0000
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