Justo Valdez and La Rumba Palenquera - Tribute To Batata

Powerful, joyful, irresistible: Batata is a music to bury the dead or party to, with rhythms whose names reflect a hybrid polymorphous nature: Colombian Afro-beat, cumbia soukous, porro, and champeta palenquera. The camera deliberately chooses to focus on the musicians' faces, hands, and instruments. At the core of all these Afro-Colombian rhythms, DJ Champeta Man Original tells us the story of this music.Shot on location at a performance at the Banlieues Bleues Festival near Paris, this film is part of La Huit's Freedom Now collection. Creative music of many kinds constitutes the heart of the collection. Total freedom was given to directors, who are reputed for their loving experience of filming music. Their films challenge the conservative codes of shooting musical performances. Live close-up footage shot with exquisite taste and care makes the viewer feel as though he were sitting right on stage with the bands. Music and interviews are seamlessly woven together subtly, and the filming helps the viewer to concentrate on each musician's performance.