Les Nubians' 'Echos: Nubian Voyager' Brilliantly Captures the Spirit of I Kiffe Ny Festival

Summary

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Of special note in the capacity-filled venue was the highly esteemed Mr. Melvin Van Peebles, who, along with French actor Vincent Cassel ("La Haine," "Ocean's Thirteen"), are the benefit committee members of I Kiffe New York Peebles, the legendary Chicago- born, multi-lingual director, actor, screen- writer, playwright and composer, is widely acclaimed for his groundbreaking, inde- pendent classic film, "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song," (1971). The filmmaker, who has lived and worked in France over the years, is also the award-winning director of the French-language film, "Le Conte du ven- tre plein" ("Bellyful," 2000). Also acknowl- edged for his philanthropic work in promoting African achievement in business, entertainment and social justice, Peebles was awarded the French Legion of Honor in 2001.

Inspired by America's hip-hop (and the antagonistically termed) "ghetto culture," many of the festival's participating artists emanate from trans-cultural, largely immigrant communities, where "the banlieues, with their public housing projects, most often evoke negative connotations of hardship, gloom and menace." However, advocates of the banlieues artists maintain that "such one-sided portrayals neglect their growing importance as a prime source of France's cultural dynamism and innovation." These proponents further conclude that "certainly, much must still be done to better integrate the inhabitants of the banlieues into mainstream France; nonetheless, amidst their transition to integration, they are the locus of some of the most groundbreaking art making happening in France today."

Of special note in the capacity-filled venue was the highly esteemed Mr. Melvin Van Peebles, who, along with French actor Vincent Cassel ("La Haine," "Ocean's Thirteen"), are the benefit committee members of I Kiffe New York Peebles, the legendary Chicago- born, multi-lingual director, actor, screen- writer, playwright and composer, is widely acclaimed for his groundbreaking, inde- pendent classic film, "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song," (1971).

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Les Nubians' 'Echos: Nubian Voyager' Brilliantly Captures the Spirit of I Kiffe Ny Festival

By MISANI

Special to the AmNews

Les Nubians, the leading contemporary French-language urban music vocalists from France, staged a stupendous takeover of Joe's Pub in New York City last Thursday evening with their presentation, "Echos: Nubian Voyager Poetry and Music from the Urban Edge." Without a doubt, this...

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