With a new and burgeoning global interest in the Black roots of techno music, this virtual discussion will speak with the director while examining clips of his award-winning documentary film God Said Give’em Drums (GSGDM). We’re dropping the proverbial needle on the city of Detroit highlights themes looking at music and place.
Featuring:
Kristian Hill, Director
Lynnée Denise, Moderator and Curator of Rhythm, Bass & Place
GSGEDM tells the story of Detroit's contributions to world culture: Techno, the electronic music phenomenon created by 1980s Black artists that transformed dance music and blossomed into the multi-billion dollar EDM industry. Detroit born director Kristian Hill is one of very few filmmakers from the city who took the narrative of Detroit, as the birthplace of techno, in his own hands. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2022.
This virtual discussion and select scenes screening invites viewers to listen to Diasporic approaches to the use of music as the anchor for visual narratives. Additionally, Rhythm, Bass and Place explores the use of documentary creative nonfiction filmmaking to address relevant topics connected to Black music and the life that surrounds it. We welcome audiences to a cinematic listening experience.
Rhythm, Bass and Place: Connections and Reflections on Music of the African Diaspora:
In the Director’s Chair is part of CCCADI's Rhythm, Bass and Place series, a 5-month celebration of Black music that traces its migratory nature and constructs a living archive through engaging stories from neighborhoods, stages, studios and dance floors that shaped the sonic landscape in select U.S., U.K. and Caribbean cities over the last three decades.