Tamikrest / Tamikrest

country, year

Germany/Slovenia, 2013

genre

documentary

running time

80′

directed by

Peter Braatz

language

Tamasheq, French

subtitles

Slovene

synopsis

The band Tamikrest reflects in their songs the desires of the young Tuareg, they play the “blues of the desert” on numerous concerts in Europe and in their home country at campfires, in the south of Algeria, directly on the borderline to Mali. Here they fight for their own territory, “Azawad”. But it is war, Islamists seize the power, some of the younger Tuareg declare themselves being part of the Al-Qaeda, the region develops into a zone of terror and interests of multinational businesses. The band-members prefer music rather than weapons to reflect the desires of the young tuareg generation – half of the film was filmed by the Tuareg themselves, images of a stolen peace, on the barest ground on earth.

about the author

Peter Braatz was born in 1959 in Solingen, Germany. From 1977 to 2012 he has been a singer and songwriter in the pank band S.Y.P.H. He graduated from the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin (DFFB). Since 1988 he has been an independent producer, director, screenwriter, editor, cameraman, photographer, sound designer and the owner of the production house Taris Filmproduktion, Germany – Slovenia. He edited most of Maja Weiss’ films. He directed 36 documentaries, shown all over the world: Berlinale (Forum, Panorama), DokLeipzig, MOMA New York, Sunny side of the Doc Marseille, Mesage to Men St. Petersburg, Rotterdam, Los Angeles… He has worked with David Lynch and Wim Wenders. He is also creating under the pseudonym Harry Rag. He is the director of the documentary about volunteering and music Forever Young – Slovenia (Vedno mlada Slovenija).

Filmography (selection)
Slumberland Gmbh (1982), No Frank in Lumberton (1987), Trans (1993), Foto Film 2001 (1996), Motorkult (1999), Der Menschliche Fisch (2007), Tracking The Walkabouts (2009)

festivals, awards

Mediawave – International Film and Music Gathering Fort Monostor 2013 (Hungary)