Creator-produced documentary The Blind Couple From Mali begins filming; Development partners include CBC’s Documentary Channel and Mediawan

EXCLUSIVE: documentary The blind couple from Malidedicated to the famous West African music duo Amadou & Mariam started filming.

Directed by Canadian director Ryan Marley, the film follows blind musician duo and couple Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia as they prepare for the concert of their lives in their native Mali in hopes of saving their war-torn country.

Shooting will take place in Paris, Barcelona, ​​​​London and the Malian capital Bamako until early 2023.

The work tells the untold story of the pair’s global success over the past four decades and the evolution of their unique sound, which blends West African influences with rhythm and blues.

It includes never-before-seen footage and exclusive interviews with the duo and famous musicians and experts.

“During the most important year of Amadou and Mariam’s lives, we are connected with them on tour, in the studio and at their homes in Paris and Mali,” said Marley. “For the audience it will be a true follow doc, verité experience. Amadou and Mariam have never given this access before.”

The documentary brings together a team of filmmakers with a track record of telling stories about accessibility and people with disabilities.

Marley’s previous credits include the documentary Sit Long: The Patrick Anderson Storj and candidate 34.

The Canadian wheelchair basketball champion briefly followed Anderson as he prepared for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, while the latter title explored the story of Canadian Peruvian Bryan Russell, who became the world’s first person with Down syndrome to run for public office to elect when he in the 2020 general election in Peru.

Other recent work includes episodes of the award-winning Canadian documentary series useful me which tells the stories of job seekers who prove that a physical disability or neurological condition should not prevent them from being successful candidates.

Cameraman Paul Duck (useful me) and author Sonia Godding Togobo (become queen) is also related to production.

Toronto-based global producer network Makers is producing the film, which was developed in collaboration with CBC’s documentary channel and up-and-coming Paris-based content group Mediawan.

The production team includes Creators executive producer Katie Lafferty, who was also the series’ producer useful me and also manufactured candidate 34and Michelle Asgarali, who produced character break about six disabled artists.

“Everyone involved in the project is a big fan of Amadou and Mariam’s music,” says Lafferty. “We hope this film will introduce them to a whole new audience.”

useful me won the Diversify TV Excellence Award at MIPCOM 2017 & 2020, as well as the 2018, 2019 & 2020 Rockie Awards and a 2022 Canadian Screen Award.

candidate 34It was produced in association with Lionsgate’s Unscripted division, Pilgrim Media Group, and won the FilmSlam Audience Choice Award at the Cleveland International Film Festival.

The blind couple from Mali was developed in collaboration with CBC’s Documentary Channel and Mediawan.

Grammy nominees Bagayoko and Doumbia both lost their sight at a young age. They met at the Mali Institute for the Blind through the Eclipse Orchestra.

They began releasing and performing their own original songs in the 1980s, blending traditional Malian sounds and modern influences, and began touring as a duo in the mid-1980s.

Career highlights include the award-winning 2005 album Sunday in Bamako; the anthem of the 2006 fifa world cup fourth day and the 2008 Grammy-nominated album Welcome to Mali featuring artists K’Naan, Keziah Jones, -M- and Damon Albarn.

They are a regular at international concerts and music festivals and have performed at Coachella, Lollapalooza and Glastonbury among many other events and also supported the mega band U2.

The couple, who live between Paris and Bamako, tour regularly themselves and currently have dates in the US in March.