I just heard about a documentary about Senegalese musician Yossou N'Dour titled I bring what I love. According to the website, the film "takes you behind the scenes and into the world of Africa’s most famous musician". Although I'm not sure if other famous African musicians would agree with that title, Youssou N’Dour surely is a fascinating artist and I'll definitely try to watch the film.

Apparently the film focuses on the controversial release of his album Egypt in 2004, which was named Sant Allah (Thanks to Allah) in the original Senegalese release. With it he was hoping to promote a more tolerant face of Islam, with most of the tracks (which are sung in Wolof and Arabic) dedicated to great marabouts of the Muslim brotherhoods of Senegal. 'Egypt' is dramatically different from the sexy, rhythmic mbalax sound that made Youssou famous. So his fellow Senegalese rejected the album almost instantly and denounced it as blasphemous. Merchants quickly returned their copies and N'dour was made the center of controversy. The ‘Egypt’ album moved me the first time I listened to it.

The film was shot during the course of three years across several countries by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, a young filmmaker from New York who had won critical acclaim with his debut documentary A Normal Life in 2003, about young Kosovar Albanians who came of age during the recent war. This is how she describes I bring what I love:

Besides just introducing them to my friend Youssou N’dour, I hope people discover someone new, come away with a stronger appreciation of Islam and the role that music plays in the West African culture. At the same time I would just like an audience to sit back and enjoy what I would consider a contemporary African musical.

This is a film about conscience, faith, and simply doing the right thing. Regardless of your religious upbringing or musical tastes, here is an artist who had to make a decision, face the consequences and affect change. In the process, he is finally rewarded on the world stage. I hope that a young woman in the states will relate to this just as intensely as a religious student in Egypt would.

Watch the trailer below:

The film opened in Holland in January and will continue to open throughout Europe this summer. In the US it opened last month, and I received word that it will come out on July 31st in San Francisco and Berkeley. And in case you're still undecided about going to see it, here's what the film press release says:

Enjoy the tantalizing beats, be inspired by Youssou's compelling story, but also go see the film because there is more at stake. It’s all too rare that an African or Muslim subject gets this kind of filmmaking and this kind of attention. Amid the images in the U.S. media of African AIDS, war and poverty, this film is a chance for Americans to see a positive, realistic representation of contemporary Africa. In addition, it is all too rare that stories go below the surface and give nuanced views of a more tolerant Islam. Every film is judged by its box office receipts, so please do your part to make this film a success - to show theaters and the media that we want to see films that reveal an entirely new Africa.