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Throw Down Your Heart

By Ben Kenigsberg
STRING THEORY Fleck plays tour guide.

In 2005, banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck went to Africa to record an album and make this plodding tie-in documentary, which follows him from country to country as he jams with local musicians. Fleck wanted to draw attention to the fact that the banjo originated in Africa, and although the film provides a few interesting bits of cultural history, it’s mostly just a filmed album, and Fleck’s inane pronouncements (“I just felt truly welcomed. I don’t know if I can put it into words”) make him a tiresome tour guide.

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Dir. Sascha Paladino. 2008. N/R. 97mins. Documentary. In English and subtitled French, Bambara, Jola-Fonyi and Swahili.

August 11, 2009
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