Cairo Jazzman - The Groove of a Megacity at Cinemateket

The engaging story of the Cairo Jazz Festival and a portrait of its founder Amr Salah. Dedicated to the Egyptian civil society.

Passionate Amr Salah is an Egyptian jazz composer and musician trying to organise the Cairo Jazz Festival; a risky undertaking, not only because of his limited experience, but mainly also due to the increasingly intolerant social climate. This political music documentary simultaneously paints an atmospheric portrait of the Egyptian capital.

“Jazz is more than just a style of music”, says Amr Salah. “It’s about freedom.” Salah, a jazz pianist, is an enthusiastic promoter of the genre. Every year he organises the Cairo Jazz Festival, but doesn’t view himself as a festival director: He is first and foremost a musician and fan. In this music documentary, people close to Salah such as his fellow musicians and proud parents discuss his passion. In Egypt, jazz attracts a conspicuously young audience, emphasising the chasm between them and the older generation who rule the country. The authorities therefore provide almost no support to Salah’s jazz festival. The film follows him during the run-up to the festival and various major and minor problems crop up. “Egypt is full of surprises”, he observes when one of the locations suddenly becomes unavailable mere days before the festival. Luckily, as a jazz musician he is good at improvising...

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The engaging story of the Cairo Jazz Festival and a portrait of its founder Amr Salah. Dedicated to the Egyptian civil society.

Passionate Amr Salah is an Egyptian jazz composer and musician trying to organise the Cairo Jazz Festival; a risky undertaking, not only because of his limited experience, but mainly also due to the increasingly intolerant social climate. This political music documentary simultaneously paints an atmospheric portrait of the Egyptian capital.

“Jazz is more than just a style of music”, says Amr Salah. “It’s about freedom.” Salah, a jazz pianist, is an enthusiastic promoter of the genre. Every year he organises the Cairo Jazz Festival, but doesn’t view himself as a festival director: He is first and foremost a musician and fan. In this music documentary, people close to Salah such as his fellow musicians and proud parents discuss his passion. In Egypt, jazz attracts a conspicuously young audience, emphasising the chasm between them and the older generation who rule the country. The authorities therefore provide almost no support to Salah’s jazz festival. The film follows him during the run-up to the festival and various major and minor problems crop up. “Egypt is full of surprises”, he observes when one of the locations suddenly becomes unavailable mere days before the festival. Luckily, as a jazz musician he is good at improvising

Cairo Jazzman - The Groove of a Megacity

Instruktør: Atef Ben Bouzid

”Jazz er mere end bare en musikstil” siger Amr Salah. ”Det handler om frihed”. Jazzpianisten Salah er en entusiastisk promotor af genren. Hvert år organiserer han Cairo Jazz Festival, men ser sig alligevel ikke som en festivaldirektør: Han er først og fremmest musiker og fan. I ’Cairo Jazzman - The Groove of a Megacity’ følger vi Salah, hans tætteste medmusikanter og stolte forældre, som livligt diskuterer hans lidenskab.

I Egypten tiltrækker jazz et bemærkelsesværdigt ungt publikum, hvilket understreger kløften mellem dem og den ældre generation, der styrer landet. Myndighederne giver derfor næsten ingen støtte til Salahs jazzfestival. Filmen følger ham under forberedelserne, hvor problemer af alle slags dukker op. ”Egypten er fuld af overraskelser”, observerer han, når et af spillestederne pludselig blev utilgængelig få dage før festivalen. Heldigvis er han som jazzmusiker god til at improvisere.

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