Echoes of Unity: Music connections in Morocco
Urban musician and DJ Asmae Youness meets traditional Ahwach singers in rural Morocco for a creative musical union.
Marrakesh-based musician and DJ Asmae Youness believes music is a language that transcends borders and unites people in unexpected ways. She travels to Touama, a rural village beyond Marrakesh in Morocco, to dig into her heritage and identity. She listens to singer Najma Wakili and others, who perform Ahwach, an old singing, dancing and poetic tradition still preserved here, and she records their songs and the sounds around the village landscapes. Asmae contemplates her journeys through music, and shares this unifying musical exchange, composing a haunting soundtrack which combines these very different sounds.
Adnane Baraka is a Moroccan independent filmmaker and musician based in Marrakesh. His feature documentary Fragments from Heaven premiered at the Locarno Film Festival, screening and winning awards at several international festivals.