10th Anniversary: Death Metal Angola 2012

We are delighted to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Jeremy Xido's Death Metal Angola, a raucous and righteous film that follows a rock show off the grid - a fulfilling and haunting journey. Following nearly 40 years of civil war, peace and reconstruction are slowly arriving in Angola. Damaged first by the war for independence from Portugal, Angola then endured a devastating civil war that orphaned thousands of children. Huambo, Angola's second-largest city, finds 55 of these children in the Okutiuka orphanage under the care of Sonia Ferreira. Sonia's boyfriend, Wilker Flores, is a death metal guitarist who uses the brutal sounds and rhythms of this hardcore music as a path to healing, or as Sonia says, "to clear out the debris from all these years of war."

Death Metal Angola tracks Wilker and Sonia's dream – to stage Angola's first-ever national rock concert, bringing together members from different strands of the Angolan hardcore scene from different provinces – as it unfolds in fits and starts against the bombed-out and mined backdrop of the formerly stately Huambo. Rubble and deconstructed spaces provide scenic reminders of why hardcore music has gained a foothold.

What initially looks like a Quixotic undertaking gains momentum, aided by social media and propelled by members of the various branches of the death metal hardcore underground, who join together to stage the event.

Kayus Bankole from Young Fathers will be present to introduce the in-person screening. 

Content Notes: This film contains some strong language and discussion of trauma and is geo-blocked to UK region only.

About the Director

Jeremy Xido works as a director, writer and performer on stage and in film, TV and cinema. He is a multifaceted artist with a unique approach to stage and film, blending emotionally gripping personal stories with the larger social contexts within which they emerge. He directed the entire 6-part European Union commissioned Crime: Europe documentary series, the film Macondo, as well as a series of critically acclaimed short fiction films.

Xido is the Co-director of the internationally acclaimed company CABULA6, was awarded the Outstanding Artist of the Year Award 2010 by the Austrian Ministry of Culture, voted company of the year 2009 in one of Europe's most prestigious cultural magazines, Ballettanz, and awarded the 2005 Audience Award at the Salzburg Sommerszene, among others.

GUEST SPEAKER

Kayus Bankole is a founding member and key creative force within the musical group, Young Fathers. The band have attracted critical praise the world over - winning the Scottish Album of the Year prize twice, the Mercury Prize and myriad other esteemed accolades. Comrades and collaborators of Massive Attack, Young Fathers have been heralded for their genre defying, uncompromising music and visceral, unforgettable, coruscating, live performances. Orbiting around the band, Kayus has deftly turned his hand to spoken word, exhibition curation, cultural conversations, contemporary dance and realms beyond.