| Summary: | Plunging into the very heart of the Gnawa music and rituals, The Lila of Derdeba follows each step of a "night of possession" led by master Mahmoud Guinea. French film and television director Frank Cassenti fell in love with jazz even before he owned a camera. After learning the ropes in the militant cinema of the late sixties through the late seventies (including The Red Poster, winner of the prestigious Jean Vigo prize in 1976), beginning in the eighties, he devoted himself to documentaries, paying tribute to his favorite musicians, from Michel Petrucciani to Billie Holiday and Archie Shepp. In 2011, he trained his camera on a Gnawa family in Essaouira (Morocco), filming a night of ritual possession (The Lila of Derdeba) in its entirety, from the time the animals are prepared for sacrifice all the way through the afterglow of the trance. For these descendants of slaves deported from sub-Saharan Africa to Maghreb during the period of triangular trade, music has therapeutic properties, in addition to serving as a vehicle for their collective memory. Driven by master Guinea's sintir (a plucked string instrument similar to a lute), the ritual dances of his wife, Malike, and the drums and krakebs (a sort of iron castanet) of their family members, this film stands out as an ethnographic document unique in its class. It's also a testament to the genius of Guinea, who passed away in 2015, after having collaborated with Peter Brötzmann, Pharoah Sanders and Hamid Drake. A physical and spiritual celebration of a musical tradition that has transcended the ages and the suffering of a people, to enjoy international recognition today. Michael Patin.
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