They Will Have to Kill Us First

Imagine waking up one day to music being banned in your country? This became reality when Islamic fundamentalist took control over the northern parts of Mali in 2012, and imposed the strongest interpretation of sharia law in history. Radio stations closed, music instruments were destroyed and musicians became a persecuted group facing threats of torture and death. We meet several musicians in the documentary, forced into exile and their fight to return home and keep the music alive. The personal interviews with Songhoy Blues, Disco and Jimmy, Moussa and Kharia show how these musicians refuse to be silenced, and their different strategies to overturn the regime.

The documentary is beautifully filmed and edited, and its effort to intertwine the different destinies is very well done. It is especially exiting to follow the band Songhoy Blues that started playing together in a refugee camp and therefore paradoxically was founded because of the music ban. While in exile, they meet different Western musicians like Damon Albarn and Nick Zinner, and the band has just released their debut album Music In Exile. Their music lives on outside Mali’s boarders, but the singer Kharia makes a drastic decision to bring music back to Mali as well. “Its not life without music,” she proclaims and decides to throw a concert in the occupied Timbuktu, with her own life at stake. The decision to have the film culminate with the concert makes the documentary filled with suspense.

They will have to kill us first is a deeply moving documentary about a war on culture, and the future of an entire country. Schwartz’ documentary shows us how music is a human right and how it can function as a political tool.

Johanna Schwartz is an American filmmaker and photographer. She has worked on films around the world, but has a particular focus on Africa. She has produced and directed films for BBC, National Geographic, and The History Channel among others. This documentary is her feature debut, which premiered on SXSW 2015.