Music is the beating heart of Malian culture.

The Western Saharan country is home to some of the world’s most extraordinary musicians and sounds, the birthplace of a thousand styles.Often overlooked, the musical world owes much to Mali. 

Wooozy Community Films is proud to present the first China screening for They Will Have to Kill Us First (2016), the award-winning documentary that shines a light and lends a ear to some of the most spectacular sounds being made on the planet today. They Will Have to Kill Us First shows us Mali’s inspirational, joyous music culture, and its will to survive.This is a film about how music is a force for good, and how it endures even in the most difficult of times.

Friday, 6 January 2017 at AOTU Studio, from 8pm onwards. Free entry. English, with Chinese subtitles. 

Before, and after,Wooozy will be curating a special playlist featuring all-contemporary pan-African music. Join us to discover one of the world’s most energetic musical undergrounds.

They Will Have to Kill Us First (2016, 105 mins)

“A vibrant testimony of resilience under oppression" – New York Times

“One of the season’s top documentaries” – The Guardian

When Islamic hardliners tookcontrol of northern Mali in 2012, they enforced one of the harshest interpretations of sharia law in history and, crucially for Mali, they banned all forms of music. Overnight, Mali’s revered musicians were forced into hiding or exile where most remain even now. But rather than lay down their instruments, the musicians are fighting back, standing up for their cultural heritage and identity.

THEY WILL HAVE TO KILL US FIRST begins with musicians on the run, reveals rare footage of the jihadists, captures life at refugee camps, follows perilous journeys home to battle scarred cities, and witnesses our two female characters perform at the first public concert in Timbuktu since the music ban. The stories of these artists are told without gloss – they are sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes inspirational, and sometimes incredibly frustrating as we watch musicians make tough choices about their futures.

With a specially commissioned soundtrack from Mali’s most exciting artists, a score written by the Yeah YeahYeah’s Nick Zinner, They Will Have To Kill Us First leaps headfirst into a tale of courage in the face of conflict.

Wooozy Community Films: A ‘Mali Music’Special
They Will Have to Kill Us First

Free entry; English, with Chinese subtitles.

Beijing
Date: Friday, 6 January 2017, 8pm-10pm
Venue: AOTU Studio 凹凸空间
Address: 67, BeixinqiaoToutiao  (near Beixinqiao Subway Exit B) 北新桥头条67号（北新桥地铁B出口）

About Wooozy Community Films:
Wooozy Community Films, started by the Chinese underground music blog Wooozy.cn, are a series of curated film screenings in cities across China. The impetus for these events comes from our knowledge of many groundbreaking music documentaries which music fans in Mainland China have found difficult to access. We fill that gap: music documentaries, subtitled in Chinese.We hope that the screenings will foster a sense of community and camaraderie between music fans in each city.

Related Links:

Wooozy website：http://www.wooozy.cn
Wooozyon Weibo：http://weibo.com/wooozy
They Will Have to Kill Us First, official website: http://www.theywillhavetokillusfirst.com/
High resolution Photos: http://www.theywillhavetokillusfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/They-Will-Have-to-Kill-Us-First-press-pack1.zip