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Blue rain with red in it: Purple Rain filmed in a language with no purple Blue rain with red in it: Purple Rain filmed in a language with no purple
(1 day later)
Purple Rain, Prince’s self-mythologising “rock opera” based loosely on his own journey to stardom, was a runaway box office success when it hit cinemas in 1984, grossing more than $80m and instantly becoming a cult classic. Purple Rain, Prince’s self-mythologising rock opera based loosely on his own journey to stardom, has been remade in the Saharan state of Niger – where few in the Tuareg community have ever heard of the musician, and there is no word for purple.
In it the musician plays The Kid, a downbeat Minneapolis singer trying to escape a violent home life and make it big in the world of music. In the original film, Prince plays The Kid, a downbeat Minneapolis singer trying to escape a violent home life and make it big in the world of music. It was a runaway box office success when it hit cinemas in 1984, grossing more than $80m (£53m) and instantly becoming a cult classic.
Now, the story is being remade in the most unlikely of places, the Saharan state of Niger, a place where “the guitar is king”, explains Chris Kirkley, the man behind the project. But few in Niger have ever heard of Prince. And the fact there is no Tuareg word for purple means the film is saddled with the title Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai, which translates as Rain the Colour of Blue With a Little Red in It.
Swapping smoky Minneapolis for dusty Agadez, the largest city in the country’s central region, the film follows self-taught musician Mdou Moctar as he rides his motorbike from performance to performance, fighting to make a name for himself. “It started out as a joke, the idea to take this cult film from the west and remake it in the Sahara,” said Christopher Kirkley, an American who directed and co-wrote the remake, and runs the record label Sahel Sounds.
“With Moctar, we wanted to make something that western audiences could watch and get a glimpse of what life is life for guitarists, but which people in Niger – in the Tuareg community – could enjoy too.” “But we realised if we took the original story and modified it, the remake would reflect the lives of every guitarist in the Tuareg community.”
The new title is 'rain the colour of blue with a little red in it' Swapping smoky Minneapolis for dusty Agadez, the largest city in the country’s central region, the new film follows Mdou Moctar - a popular self-taught Niger musician in real life - as he rides his purple motorbike from performance to performance, struggling to make a name for himself. Kirkley claims it is the first feature film shot entirely in the Tuareg language.
But the effort to reference one of the western world’s most eccentric and captivating stars is largely lost on local audiences. “Is Prince big in Agadez? No, I’ve encountered a few of his LPs in west Africa before, but besides that he’s not known at all,” says Kirkley. “With Moctar, we wanted to make something that western audiences could watch and get a glimpse of what life is like for guitarists, but which people in Niger - in the Tuareg community - could enjoy too.”
Drawing similarities between the two protagonists is not the only thing that’s lost in translation. There is no Tuareg word for “purple”, so instead the film is titled Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai, or, “rain the colour of blue with a little red in it”. Kirkley admits that the effort to reference one of the western world’s most eccentric and captivating stars is largely lost on local audiences. “Is Prince big in Agadez? No, I’ve encountered a few of his LPs in west Africa before, but besides that he’s not known at all.” But he insists that this is part of the charm of the project: “It’s a nice nod to the fact that some parts of the original translated well into the west African context and others didn’t.”
For Kirkey, this clunky approximation highlights the beauty of the project: “It’s a nice nod to the fact that some parts of the original translated well into the west African context, and others didn’t.” In Niger, the electric guitar has become synonymous with Tuareg culture, having been popularised by musicians such as Bombino, Terakaft and Tinariwen. In Agadez the so-called “desert blues” provide the soundtrack for everything from weddings to political rallies, and competition between musicians is fierce.
“It started out as a joke, the idea to take this cult film from the west and remake it in the Sahara,” he explains, “but we realised if we took the original story and modified it the remake would reflect the lives of every guitarist in the Tuareg community.” Shot on a shoestring budget over 10 days in March last year, Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai was an unusual project for both Kirkley and the people of Niger. “There are very few fictional films [about the country], so a cinematic depiction of Agadez was really special,” he said. Kirkley, who studies world music, first set up his Sahel Sounds blog in 2009 to spread the word about the music of Africa.
Kirkley, who studies and collects music from around the world, first set up his blog Sahel Sounds in 2009. The site has since evolved into a record label, releasing the music of artists from across the Sahel region, including tracks by Moctar. Akounak is his first major film project.
Electric guitar is life
In Niger, the electric guitar has become synonymous with Tuareg culture, popularised by musicians such as Bombino, Terkaft and Tinariwen.
In Agadez the so-called “desert blues” provides the soundtrack for everything from weddings to political rallies and competition between musicians is fierce.
Related: Tuareg life in the Sahara desert – in picturesRelated: Tuareg life in the Sahara desert – in pictures
Shot over a period of 10 days in March last year, it’s the first fictional film that Kirkley has made – an unusual project not just for him, but for Nigeriens too. “There are very few fictional films [about the country], so a cinematic depiction of Agadez was really special,” he explains. The site has since evolved into a record label, working with artists from across the Sahel region, including Moctar, who is performing in London this week. The film, made after a successful Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, has been screened across the world since its release earlier this year.
“The first screening was in Niger. A lot of the dialogue was missed because it was a raucous crowd, everyone was cheering when they saw someone they knew someone on the screen.” “The first screening was in Niger,” said Kirkley. “A lot of the dialogue was missed because it was a raucous crowd, everyone was cheering when they saw someone they knew on the screen.”
Mdou Moctar will be performing in London on the 25-26 NovemberMdou Moctar will be performing in London on the 25-26 November