Synopsis

It’s a documentary following the life and music of Miriam Makeba, who protested apartheid in South Africa. She was expelled because she denounced the miserable reality of South Africa in the 1959 documentary *Come Back, Africa*, which conveyed a message of incessant opposition to racism and poverty through music based on the traditions of South Africa. Through the words of her family and colleagues, *Mama Africa* shows her long journey from her first performance in a dancehall in South Africa to her last one in Italy in November 2008, after which she broke down and passed away at the age of 76.

The Director

• 
  • Mika Kaurismäki
  • Born in Finland in 1955. He studied film in Munich, Germany, from 1977 to 1981 and made his graduation project, *Liar*, in 1980. His brother, Aki Kaurismäki, who was studying journalism at the time, starred in the film and co-wrote the script. Mika won an award in 2008 for *The Three Wise Men*, and in 2009, his film *The House of Love at a Crossroads* was invited to the Toronto International Film Festival.