Youssou NDour: I Bring What I Love

Synopsis

Youssou N’Dour: I Bring What I Love is a music-driven film that reveals one man's power to inspire global change. The film unfolds at a pivotal moment in the life of Youssou N’Dour—the best-selling African pop artist of all time. N'Dour has long been renowned for bringing people of diverse nations and backgrounds together through his collaborations with such musical superstars as Bono, Paul Simon, and Peter Gabriel. But when he releases his most personal and spiritual album yet, he instead alienates his Muslim fans in Africa. Although he garners accolades in the West, N’Dour must brave controversy and rejection at home as he sets out to win his audience back.

Director Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi tracks N'Dour’s journey over two years – filming his life in Africa, Europe, and America. He initially releases his album Egypt in the hopes of promoting a more tolerant face of Islam. Yet, when his fellow Senegalese reject the album, and denounce it as blasphemous, he takes this as a challenge to go deeper, to reach out to those who would attack him, and to work even harder to use his songs to unite a divided world. The resulting portrait is not just of a musician, but also that of a world in which pop culture now has equal power to incite fury and invite new connections.

Production

Youssou N’dour: I Bring What I Love was the first feature-length documentary film by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, who also acted as producer on the film. A Groovy Griot Film In Association with 57th & Irving Productions, the film was executive produced by Edward Tyler Nahem, Jennifer Millstone, Patrick Morris, Jack Turner, Kathryn Tucker, and Miklos C.Vasarhelyi, and co-produced by Sarah Price, Gwyn Welles, Scott Duncan, and Hugo Berkeley. The film’s cinematographers are Nick Doob (From Mao to Mozart; an Academy Award winner for Best Documentary Feature), Jojo Pennebaker (The War Room), six-time Emmy winner Scott Duncan (Olympic Games, Survivor), and Hugo Berkeley. The film’s original score was composed by Emmy winner Martin Davich (Trinity) and six time Academy Award nominee James Newton Howard (Blood Diamond).

Awards

Special Jury Prize, 2008 Middle East International Film Festival

Audience Award, 2009 DC International Film Festival

Audience Award, 2008 São Paulo International Film Festival

Impact of Music Award, 2009 Nashville Film Festival

Audience Award, 2008 Bahamas International Film Festival

Spirit of Freedom Award, 2008 Bahamas International Film Festival

Special Presentation, 2008 Toronto International Film Festival

Finalist, 2009 International Documentary Association Pare Lorentz Award

Press