Mahaleo

Dama Mahaleo has been described as ‘the Madagascan equivalent of Bob Dylan’. He and his band (Mahaleo) recently celebrated their 30th anniversary together; hence this slow but worthy B&W ‘Buena Vista’-style doc which profiles each member in turn as they go about their daily lives: one has become a surgeon, another a member of parliament. In other words, when they’re not entertaining the crowds with their intriguing Flamenco-Cajun mix, they’re working as part of the community. There’s very little dialogue; instead, the filmmakers invite us to sit back and watch Madagascan life gently unfold to the not-unpleasant strains of the group’s oeuvre.