HUMBUZZ - Mauritania Music Festival Tackles Extremism

By Mohamed Yahya Ould Abdel Wedoud in Nouakchott

The Assalamalekoum Festival is designed to inform youths about the dangers of radicalism. PHOTO CREDIT: Mohamed Wedoud

The fourth edition of Mauritania's Assalamalekoum Festival just wrapped up in Nouakchott. The five-day hip-hop event attracted hundreds of young fans who reject religious extremism.

"The Assalamalekoum Festival represents the voice of Mauritanian youth rejecting all forms of violence and calling for opening bridges of love and harmony, not only among Mauritanian ethnic groups, but also among the peoples of the world," festival participant Koreira Diallo told Magharebia.

Smiling, he added that "there is no doubt that music is the best way to win the hearts of individuals and peoples."

Limam Kane, also known as "Monza", organised the June 13th-17th event, saying it was an annual reminder of the dangers of extremism and terrorism. A large number of international institutions participated in the financing of the festival.

"Islam is love, compassion and unity, and thus a way of life," Monza said. "Anyone who wages attacks on people in the name of Islam is a terrorist. We must use every means to present the true Islam to people, removed from extremism and fanaticism. Unfortunately, among some, Mauritania's name has been linked recently to suicide bombings and the killing of French tourists, and we in no way want this link or this image to continue because it is offensive to the country's history."

He added that the festival aimed to "spread a culture of tolerance among the various Mauritanian ethnic groups, because art in general is a message of peace among human beings".

"I want to sow closeness among peoples and brotherhood among everyone, and I want everyone to live in peace. I thus chose to name the festival 'Assalamalekoum', and my goal is to defend the homeland and offer a good image of Mauritania," Monza said.

Monza asserted that he loved his country and was keen "to inform people about the nature of Mauritanians so far as their love for people and respect for others and their traditions".

Thousands of young people attended the different concerts that reverberated through the various neighbourhoods of the capital in an atmosphere of camaraderie.

"The Assalamalekoum Festival is a rare artistic phenomenon in a traditional society where politicians, journalists and clerics have expressed, on more than one occasion, their rejection of violence and extremism," said young spectator Issa Ould Nasser.

Ould Nasser commented that "the selection of the phase Assalamalekoum as the title for this annual festival was a very good choice, because this phrase in itself symbolises the message of peace Muslims adhere to in their faith and which they must also embody in their behaviour."

"The festival impressed a lot of young people and offered a living example that music can be used as a means to disseminate correct values within society and to guide national, regional and even international public opinion," noted festival attendee Kane Seidou.

At the end of the event, awards were handed out to Mauritanian youth and cultural figures. Monza said he planned another festival in the near future "called 'Aleikoum Essalam', which will be a mix of contemporary and traditional art in Mauritania".

- Originally published by Magharebia June 23, 2011

HUMBUZZ - First Ever 'Best African Movie' Category at the MTV Movie Awards

Among the usual categories and list of Hollywood blockbusters at this year's MTV Movie Awards to be held on Monday June 6, 2011 there will be a new category; "Best African Movie". Below are the trailers for the nominees that will vie for the 'Best African Movie' category for the first time ever: 

A Screaming Man

Chadian director Haroun’s masterpiece, which won the Grand jury prize at Cannes in 2010, is the personal and universal story of a father-son relationship frustrated by  civil war and economic upheaval.

Director/Writer: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun | Stars: Youssouf Dioucounda Koma, Emile Abossolo M’bo

Life, Above All

Also a 2010 Cannes favorite, in this story, a 12-year-old South African girl Chanda sets out to defend her mother against the stigma from their local community when her baby brother dies from HIV infection. 

Director: Oliver Schmitz |Writer: Dennis Foon | Stars: Khomotso Manyaka, Harriet Lenabe, Keaobaka Makanyane, Lerato Mvelase, Tinah Mnumzana, Aubrey Poolo, Mapaseka Mathebe, Thato Kgaladi, Rami Chuene

Viva Riva!

Congolese singer and actor Patsha Bay is Riva, who has just returned from Angola to Kinshasa for the first time in ten years, with fuel in his possession – something in high demand in the Congo’s capital. He also falls for a red-headed vixen who happens to be the girlfriend of a feared criminal ringleader in pursuit of this fuel. Thrilling action all the way.

Director: Djo Tunda Wa Munga | Stars: Patsha Bay, Manie Malone, Hoji Fortuna, Alex Herbo, Marlene Longage, Diplome Amekindra, Angelique Mbumba, Nzita Tumba, Jordan N’Tung

Restless City

Film maker and photographer Dosunmu pops his feature film directorial cherry adding sensual colour to the global film tapestry with this 2011 Sundance selection. Senegalese immigrant Djibril  dreams of being a musician, but while he waits for the big time, he makes a living in Harlem selling CDs. An official trailer has not been released for this film however, click here to link to the official movie site for more information.

Photo courtesy of restlesscityfilm.com /by Jenny Baptiste

Director: Andrew Dosunmu |Writer: Eugene M. Gussenhoven | Stars: Danai Gurira, Anthony Okungbowa, Mohamed Dione, Osas Ighodaro and Lenore Thomas

- HUMNews Staff 

HUMBUZZ - A tribute to Jackie Cooper’s Treasure Island

(Wallace Beery, Jackie Cooper-MGM's 1934 `Treasure Island') “Young Jim Hawkins is torn between his loyalty to his benefactors and his affection for lovable rogue Long John Silver in their struggle to recover a buried pirate treasure.” – (IMDB).  

In 1934 MGM produced the first version of the Robert Louis Stevenson’s famous 1883 novel `Treasure Island’ as a silent film starring Jim Hawkins, Jackie Cooper, and Lionel Barrymore as honest seafarers who sail to remote island after discovering a treasure map only to be challenged by Wallace Beery as pirate Long John Silver. CLIP HERE: http://youtu.be/6DDWcqQqJNg.

Yesterday, Jackie Cooper a former child star – one of the biggest of the 1930’s - who also once played Daily Planet editor Perry White in the four Superman films, died at 88 in Santa Monica, California  of complications related to old age.  Cooper was a TV star and then worked as a director and producer before eventually returning to on-camera roles.  He became the youngest male in 1931 at the age of 9 to be nominated for a best actor Oscar for the film Skippy, an adaptation of a popular comic strip.   Cooper's 1981 autobiography, “Please Don't Shoot My Dog”, detailed his long life in entertainment.

John O’Melveny Woods is a writer whose novel, `Return to Treasure Island’, has won numerous awards and praise including a Silver Medal for Book of the Years from the IBPA.  Below is his tribute to the late great, Jackie Cooper. 

I remember being about eight year’s old and watching Treasure Island on television with Jackie Cooper playing Jim Hawkins and Lionel Barrymore as the consummate one-legged pirate, Long John Silver. The acting in it was superb. I was also mesmerized by the whole look and feel of the movie… although it was in black and white on my TV; it was one of the earlier Technicolor releases from MGM. Even though it was filmed in Alameda California and Hawaii, it seemed real to me and I was on the Hispaniola and Treasure Island with all of the players – Dr. Livesey, Captain Smollett and the crew. In a word, I was hooked.

I must admit, at such a young age, it was simply a pirate and treasure story to me. My mind didn’t appreciate the complexities of the characters nor how the relationship between Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver evolved. However, I must have picked up on it on an emotional level, because every line of the screenplay and story rang true. I related to all of the characters. It is still one of Robert Louis Stevenson’s greatest character driven stories.

When I was about twelve years old, my parents bought a copy of the original book and I devoured it for days. It was very difficult reading, and I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss a word of the story. I also started to understand how complex the interconnections of the archetypal characters were woven into the story by Stevenson. Masterfully accomplished.

Disney’s version of Treasure Island came out in 1950 and starred Bobby Driscoll as Hawkins and Robert Newton as Long John Silver. The production was perfect, especially Newton’s portrayal of Silver, who went on to reprise his role in a movie sequel and a short lived television series. However, it was Jackie Cooper who I could relate to as the young Jim Hawkins. The sinister nature of Barrymore’s Silver created a personal alliance with Jackie, making the movie more real, and scarier, for that eight year old watching it unfold.

And it was Jackie Coopers’ Jim Hawkins that I kept visualizing as I re-read Treasure Island about six years ago. I remember putting the book down and feeling a loss; I missed the characters that Stevenson had created and wondered why he never wrote a sequel. I found the answer at the end of the book, wherein he stated he would never return to that accursed Island again.

I decided that he would, and set out to create a sequel. As I reprised the role of Jim Hawkins, it was Jackie Cooper who filled my mind as a role model and helped me create the older character that was to be the star of Return to Treasure Island.

Jackie Cooper went on to have a most successful career, spanning Broadway, movies and television – including stints as a director which lead to his receiving multiple Emmy’s.

But for that eight year old kid sitting in front of the television, it was Jackie Coopers’ Jim Hawkins that spurred his imagination and helped him write, almost fifty years later, a tribute to the original book.

       John O’Melveny Woods is a writer living in Leucadia, California. His novel, Return to Treasure Island, has won numerous awards and praise including a Silver Medal for Book of the Years from the IBPA. It is forwarded by LeVar Burton. The web site for the book is www.TreasureIslandBook.com.

      He is currently working on his new book series, The Seekers, which is due out in the fall. www.TheSeekers.com.

HUMBUZZ - Pope Benedict XVI to Make Broadcasting History

PHOTO COURTESY OF: Catholic News Agency(HN, April 22, 2011) Pope Benedict XVI is to make broadcasting history today by becoming the first pontiff ever to take part in a televised question-and-answer session. 

The 80-minute pre-recorded program will air at 2:10pm local time on Italy's publicly-owned RAI Uno channel, in order for it to be on at 3pm when Jesus is traditionally thought to have taken his last breath, reports the Catholic news agency CNA.

More than 3,000 questions were submitted after the initiative was announced a month ago, of which seven were chosen and put to the 84-year-old pontiff.

RAI has been accepting questions for the show, titled In His Image - A Good Friday Special, that reflect issues and views from around the world. Out of all the over 3000 queries submitted from around the world, seven were chosen and put to the 84-year old pontiff.  Among them is a Muslim mother from the conflict-torn Ivory Coast in west Africa who wants to know more about Jesus as a teacher of peace. There’s also a question from seven Christian students from Baghdad, Iraq.

The RAI website indicates that viewers will hear the Pope answer "questions from an Italian mother whose son was in a coma for many years and a young Japanese girl who wrote to ask the pope to explain the cause of the recent earthquake in that country".

Broadcaster Rosario Carello's production team initially came up with the idea of a program in which viewers could ask questions about Jesus, and the Pope seemed the perfect person to answer them.

He said that the idea appeared "crazy" at first, but they saw "something in Pope Benedict's style that caused them to at least propose this idea to him". Carello added: "We proposed it and the Pope accepted." He describes the opportunity to see and hear Pope Benedict through the program as “extraordinary.”

Carello expressed his hope that the show will remind viewers of the significance of Good Friday, which he said has become "a day like any other for all the channels; there are even quarrels, idle gossip and things like that".

The special is expected to be rebroadcast by television networks around the world. 

-HUMNEWS Staff

HUMBUZZ - Tajikistan To Ban Divorce By SMS

PHOTO CREDIT: JonJon2K8 / Flickr(HN, April 13, 2011) Divorce by text message will soon be banned in the mainly Muslim Central Asian nation of Tajikistan.

The Tajikistan Ulema Council will address the issue of imposing the official ban on the practice of divorce by SMS message, said the head of the Committee for Religious Matters, Abdurakhim Kholikov.

According to Islamic traditions it is enough for a husband to tell his wife ‘talaq’ three times to make their marriage invalid however, state religious officials have ruled that sending an SMS with the ‘triple talaq’ breaches Islamic law.

Divorce by text message has become common in the country, particularly among migrant laborers living abroad. Many Tajik migrant workers, 1 million in Russia alone, have met new women there and prefer to send the ‘triple talaq’ SMS message to their wives than travel to their home country to get a legal divorce.

“Such a divorce practice by SMS is illogical, unreasonable and irrelevant and contradicts both secular and Shariah laws,” Kholikov said.

The Islam legal scholars will be making a decision on this matter soon.

Kholikov says, “Families should not be destroyed, however, if there is a need to divorce, our men should treat women with respect and properly announce the decision in the presence of their wives.”

- HUMNews Staff