Coming to PBS’s POV tonight, Monday, August 3: BEATS OF THE ANTONOV
Hajooj Kuka’s look at the role of community in the face of a refugee crisis had its world premiere at Toronto last year, where it claimed an audience award. Other fest appearances have included Dubai, Goteborg, Carthage, FESPACO, Luxor, Human Rights Watch, Tempo Doc, San Francisco, Seattle, Encounters, and Sydney, among others.
Set along the border of Sudan and South Sudan, an area emblematic of the half-century civil war that has plagued the only-recently separated countries, Kuka’s film focuses on refugees from the Blue Nile and Nuba Mountain regions, only a fraction of the 1.5 million Sudanese displaced by the conflict. Despite being subject to frequent bombing raids by the Sudanese government against the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, carried out by the Russian-made Antonov planes that lend the film its title, this community of farmers, herders, and rebels show a surprising resilience, laughing upon the completion of a bombardment as a show that they have once again survived. As Kuka’s untraditional portrait unfolds, it demonstrates the role music plays in bonding the people, surveyed here in vignettes as they express their views on the conflict and its impact on their lives, showcased through their employment of music and dance.
what (not) to doc 