Documentary.. in the making

Thanks for visiting the new site y’all! As you may know, I travelled back to Mali, West Africa, earlier this year and recorded a Malian ‘Mande’ music album of original songs performed in the Bambara language. The record, called Dugu Wolo, is finished, and everyone involved in the process is very excited about it. Some excellent Malian musicians colored the songs beautifully with kora, ngoni, calabash, guitar, and more. I’m in the process of figuring out how the album will be released (world music label? my own world music label-to-be?). I’ll keep y’all posted.

But that’s not all. Filmmaker Jason Miller of Eikon Productions (formerly of Athens, now L.A.-based) was on hand in Mali to shoot a making-of-the-record documentary film. The film captures the creation and recording of the album along with glimpses of Mali through the lives of some of my close Malian friends. It looks fantastic and tells a compelling story. And it’s not only one man’s story of music and friendship and an insight into the spirit of a struggling African nation, but a picture of West Africa told through an intimate understanding of Mande life and culture.

This film project is a labor-of-love inspired by my drive to share Mali’s vibrant culture and music as well as my personal experience and relationships in Mali. I’ve begun the long and tedious process of preparing the footage for the longer and more tedious process of editing. As you can imagine, there are significant expenses required to edit the film and, ultimately, bring it to theaters!

For those who did not have an opportunity to donate to the musical portion of this project, I invite you to be a part of making this film possible. For those that wish to contribute yet again, I’m grateful.

The film is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions in behalf of ‘The Mande Sessions’ Documentary Film may be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

Click here to make a tax-deductible contribution online at Fractured Atlas. Your valued support is only a click away:


Donate now!

You may also direct contributions to African Sky, a wonderful 501(c)3 organization doing grassroots sustainable development work in rural Mali (building schools, repairing wells, supporting artisans in making fair trade medical scrubs and other products, arts programs, and more). Visit the African Sky homepage to learn more about its work, and visit the organization’s Causes page on Facebook to make your tax deductible donation online. Please indicate your donation is for “Adam Klein” and the funds will channel through African Sky to ‘The Mande Sessions’ film project. African Sky’s Tax ID # is 20-1761327.

Prefer sending a check? Please make the check out to African Sky, indicating “Adam Klein” in the memo line, and mail to:
African Sky
P.O. Box 203
Munroe Falls, Ohio 44262

Excited for y’all to see this film and to share Mali, and my Malian life, with you and audiences worldwide.

See ya soon,
adam

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