Masters of the Balafon: Funeral Festivities / Matres du Balafon: ftes funraires (2001) dir. Hugo Zemp

In the Ivory Coast, the balafon master Nahoua Siloue guides us in the Senoufo community and their music. Balafon is the name given in French-speaking West Africa to a xylophone with calabash resonators. This instrument is emblematic of the Senufo people of the Côte d'Ivoire (the former Ivory Coast). The balafon is played under differing circumstances and in combination with different groups of instruments. Not for nothing do the peoples of the Côte d'Ivoire call the northern part of their country “the land of the balafon.“ Employing unforgettable images, director Hugo Zemp engages in dialogues with master balafon players, giving phenomenal insight into the purpose of the balafon within northern Côte d’Ivoire funeral traditions.