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Photo by Magee McIlvaine
Photo by Magee McIlvaine
Photo by Chris Moore
The film, Democracy in Dakar is the first of the Nomadic Wax film series. It brings a different approach to showcasing electoral campaigns in Africa; one focused on how the people of Dakar use local popular culture to keep the ‘voice of the people’ in the democratic process.
African Screens’ Chinaka Iwunze talks to Magee McIlvaine, creative director, Nomadic Wax - about the novelty of her documentary film and empowering people through the online platform.
Please can you tell us a little about yourself and your company – Nomadic Wax?
My name is Magee Mcilvaine. I am the creative director at Nomadic Wax. I joined the team in 2006, but the organization was actually founded all the way back in 1999.
I grew up between Washington DC and East Africa. I studied International Studies at University, but taught myself film production on the side. I do the majority of film production and work that Nomadic Wax has been doing over the past 4 years.
You have been in the music scene, for a while, as a performer and producer. What pulled you into the film making business?
Ben and I started collaborating on projects in 2005. After graduating, I co-directed a film called 'Peudo Hablar?' in Venezuela on the 2006 re-election of Hugo Chavez. At the same time, Ben was working on the release for his second Senegal compilation and watching the country prepare for its own presidential elections.
Upon my return from Venezuela, Ben pitched the idea to me of doing a film on the music scene and hip-hop community in Dakar and their involvement in the 2007 elections. Given the political history of Senegalese music, especially the role of hip hop in the country's elections in 2000, this was gearing up to be a pivotal moment in Senegalese history. We wanted to capture it on film. We did so successfully.
Which documentary or film[s] would you say have been influential in your thinking as a filmmaker?
For me, the french film 'La Haine' is hugely inspiring and influential. Its combination of brilliant storytelling, stylized visuals, and highly politicized themes is a model for me. Beyond that, Ousmane Sembene's work is very influential to me. I just saw a movie called Bamako that really touched me as well. And of course 'Style Wars' for documentary has been very influential for me.
Please tell us a little more about the purpose behind the making of Democracy in Dakar? What are the messages you wanted to bring across?
The goal of the film was to document the very real political impact the Senegalese hip-hop community has on national politics, a phenomenon not seen on such a large level in much of the world, and one that has never been profiled. We also wanted to showcase democracy in action, in Africa and in a relatively positive light.
In this regard, the film is extremely different from most of the documentaries that have come out over the past 5 years dealing with African subjects.
Can you share some of your experiences in the day-to-day production of the documentary? What were some of the highlight moments and what were some of the lessons learnt?
Day-to-Day production was grueling because we had decided on releasing video shorts online during the production process. That meant that co-director Chris Moore and I had to shoot all day and then edit all night, and translate on the fly.
Over the course of a month, we released 5 episodes from Dakar, each close to 10 minutes in length. It was a ton of work, but it was also extremely gratifying as well because we were able to have an immediate impact and gauge interest in the project as well.
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Photo by Chris Moore
Interview by Chinaka Iwunze | Photos by Magee McIlvaine & Chris Moore
Hip hop meets Politics in the Award winning Film, Democracy in Dakar
