ABDULLAH IBRAHIM - A STRUGGLE FOR LOVE

Abdullah Ibrahim is a pianist, a composer, an arranger of music, bandleader and a teacher. He is considered to be the spiritual heir of Duke Ellington’s legacy, an African music icon, a symbol of change in South Africa and the embodiment of a jazz tradition that draws on its roots. In other words: Ibrahim is one of the greatest jazz musicians of our time. Ciro Capelllari’s film concentrates on Ibrahim’s life between cultures. The film starts in Capetown, the hometown he returned to. Abdullah Ibrahim is shown trying to mend the biographical and cultural wounds Apartheid inflicted. Before taking a journey back in time to his life in Zurich and New York, the film explores the effects of exile, not only in a geographical sense, but in the mind as well. Cappellari’s documentary not only delves into the effects of displacement and exile; this film serves as an introduction to Abdullah Ibrahim’s music.