Moving to the Beat
Sierra Leone 2008
Director: Caleb Heymann & Abdul Fofanah
Docu, 52 min
English spoken
English subtitles
Afro American hip hop band, Rebel Soulz from Portland, Oregon, travels to Freetown, Sierra Leone, to discover its spiritual homeland and bring Chuck D’s philosophy back to life: hip hop as the Black CNN. In Sierra Leone former child soldiers pick up the mic in order to express their pain. Hip hop here is no stage for bling-bling but a platform to speak about poverty, politics and war. The documentary is a dialogue between activists and artists, Americans and Africans.
Caleb Heymann co-produced and co-directed DIAMONDS, GUNS AND RICE (2006). He has several short films and music videos to his name. Abdul Fofanah is an American of Sierra Leonean origin with a passion for hip hop. He works as a youth coordinator for refugees in Portland.