Festival in the Desert

Customer Reviews:

GREAT DOCUMENTARY - NOT A CONCERT DVD.......2006-10-13

"Festival in the Desert" is a beautiful and well-made documentary of North and East African musicians, along with a few European and American artists, performing in the Malian desert outside Timbuktu at the edge of the Sahara Desert, in what has to be one of the most unique musical events in the world....it is NOT a concert DVD. As some of the other reviewers have astutely indicated, there are cut-aways during songs. Some performer's songs are only heard as "sound bites." That being said, I respect the production values put forth in this DVD, and enjoy it in a Zen-like manner- it is what it is. But if you are a person who is only looking for soup-to-nuts musical video, with lots of DVD "bells and whistles", I'd urge you to spend your hard-earned money on other DVD's.

Disappointing!.......2005-08-25

I was very excited when I saw this DVD in the store, and I bought it. I really wanted to see Oumou Sangare and Tinariwen perform live, but in both cases, just as the song starts, THEY CUT AWAY FOR AN INTERVIEW! Somehow they manage to include complete performances from the people I didn't care about (Robert Plant, the awful French group, the Navajo heavy-metal band...) while short-changing the actual local bands. The Navajo band is intriguingly weird: the lead singer gives a heart-felt speech about his people losing their culture and language, then the band launches into a heavy-metal song sung in ENGLISH. That was kinda (sadly) amusing...

Midnight at the Oasis comes to Life.......2005-04-09

I rented this yesterday and after viewing, ran to my computer to try and buy one to own. There is the mystique of the desert alone that is captivating and the fusion of the North African/ West African influences, the French and American, well it is too exotic for words. The Navejo, the blues and the African rhythms all coming together under the open skies with goats & camels. Reggae on the River has nothing on this festival. I only wish it had been longer. Trying to do a DVD of such an event and capturing it all, I'm sure was challenging. It was a great "sampling" of talent, but as a "music" video, there weren't enough pieces from each group. I was hoping for more on the special features. In I"LL Sing For You, the extras were great. But, Festival is still a unique and extraordinary journey!

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