2 Films by Hisham Mayet (owner of  Sublime Frequencies Rec): “folk cinema,”  whose aim is to capture the personal essence and rituals of cultures, from the Bori cult dance ceremony to the ancient mystical gatherings formed around centuries-old Moroccan trade caravans.

1. MUSICAL BROTHERHOODS FROM THE TRANS-SAHARAN HIGHWAY (60 Minutes), DVD avaliable at Sublime Frequencies)

About the film: Hisham Mayet‘s showcases in this film an assortment of spectacular musical dramas presented live and unfiltered on the home turf of the world’s most dynamic string/drum specialists performing and manifesting the ecstatic truth! Ancient mystical brotherhoods have been flourishing for centuries in and around the cities of Marrakesh and Essaouira in Morocco where the trade caravans have gathered from their long journeys across the Trans-Saharan Highway. This is some of the last great street music on Earth.

2. Niger Magic and Ecstacy in the Sahel (DVD available at Sublime Frequencies)

Excerpts from the film.

About the film: a celebration of life in the Sahel region of Africa, this film showcases many of Niger’s venerable music styles. Tuareg Electric Guitar trance rock, Bori cult dance ceremonies, Fulani Folk, and Roadhouse Gospel Rave-ups are some of the segments included in this latest “Folk Cinema” classic from Sublime Frequencies! Filmed in December of 2004 on location in Niger, Hisham Mayet delivers a spontaneous, raw, and inspiring collection of images, music, and ceremony (again with a single camera presentation) from a nation mired in poverty and continual post-colonial disappointment. Quoting from Mayet’s liner notes: “This is not music as commodity, this is music as survival. There is a saying in Niger that goes, “when we die we know we are going to heaven because we already live in Hell” well I think its more like the purgatory that we all live in and they sure have managed to transcend with an incredible natural resource: Music. Dig it!”