𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐁𝐎 & 𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐌𝐒: 𝐊𝐎𝐅𝐈 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐘

𝐊𝐨𝐟𝐢 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐲 (2018) is a short documentary directed by Sasha Rainbow.
Placebo are featured as executive producers of the film.

It is a look into a world that few know exists: the film tells the story of two young boys who work on the electronic waste dump of Agbogbloshie, Ghana, considered to be one of the most toxic places on earth. When given the cameras to tell their own stories, they begin to dream of a life beyond the electronic waste dump and back into education. The film depicts the efforts of Abdallah, a young man determined to give hope and self-belief to the children of the area.

📍The story of creating the film is connected to Placebo searching for a director who could bring to life their idea for 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞’𝐬 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐈𝐭 video. The song, which is Talk Talk cover, was released as the lead track on Placebo EP of the same name.

𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨 - 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞’𝐬 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐈𝐭 (𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨)
🎶https://bit.ly/3aCtcar

📍𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 had in mind a video wherein “the band would be robots playing instruments and that e-waste would replace nature, as it appears to be doing only a few decades after the song’s original release”.
The brief the band sent to prospective filmmakers was short, and its message (“e-waste, please!”) open to interpretation. The lone response to excite Placebo came from 𝑺𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒂 𝑹𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒃𝒐𝒘, a director with considerable experience in both the music and fashion industries.
📢Brian got to talk to Sasha Rainbow: "I called her up to sound her out and discovered that I was speaking to a very brave and passionate woman." Mr. Molko admitted that the director had “balls of steel” for daring to travel to West Africa to make the resulting film.

So, both Kofi and Lartey documentary and Life’s What You Make It video were filmed at the same time and are tightly intertwined.

📖𝑲𝒐𝒇𝒊 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑳𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒚: 𝑷𝒍𝒐𝒕
When Abdallah was growing up as an orphan in Northern Ghana, his grandmother taught him the importance of education to find his own way in the world. When she died, he travelled south in search of work and found himself in Agbogbloshie, a commercial district in Accra, the capital of Ghana. Agbogbloshie has one of the world’s biggest electronic waste dumps, home to 100,000 people. He spent long days enduring gruelling physical work and inhaling toxic fumes as he burned plastic off wires to extract valuable copper. This work financed Abdallah’s education and inspired him later to help children escape Agbogbloshie for a better life. Interested in how the media was portraying Agbogbloshie and its residents, Abdallah built a children’s play centre and began a film project with two 12-year-old boys, Kofi and Lartey, to give them the opportunity to tell their own story. When a huge flood hit Accra, killing 150 people, it plunged the city into chaos. This included forced eviction of tenants as government agents bulldozed their homes and demolished Abdallah’s children’s centre. Abdallah felt silenced and defeated but encouraged the boys themselves to film the world around them and reveal their true dreams and ambitions for their future.

Photo credit: Joseph Llanes

📢𝑺𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒂 𝑹𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒃𝒐𝒘 explains her idea behind the film:
“I really wanted to show that these people are survivors and show how strong they are,” she stresses. “The place might look like hell on earth, but it was lively. Humans get by, you know? They celebrate, they have fun, play soccer, have family gatherings and play music when they take things to sell in the marketplace. It’s actually an incredibly optimistic, spirited place.”
(𝑢𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑀𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑐, 𝐽𝑢𝑛𝑒 5, 2017)

📢“I wanted to tell a human story from within the environment, a story that the audience could relate to and empathise with - a story of human strength within the harshest of environments, a real-life Wall-E. It was important for me to bring insight into what it is really like to live and work in such a toxic environment from an insider's perspective. Of all the documentaries I have seen on Agbogbloshie, the interaction with the locals has been stilted and tense, but I believe children are innocent reflections of the adult world and by working closely with the younger generation we can offer an original viewpoint of life on the e-waste dump.”
(www.kofiandlarteyfilm.com)

📢𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒐𝒍𝒌𝒐: "I think that it is important to stress that the video is not anti-technology," Molko added. "That would be ridiculous, considering how much it enriches our daily lives. To me, it is about the triumph of the human spirit in the face of adversity that has not been chosen.
We do, however, hope that it will make the viewer think about the repercussions of just throwing away tech that doesn't work anymore. There are several new and ingenious ways to recycle tech these days. Some companies will even give you money for it. All it takes is a little more effort.”
(𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝐽𝑢𝑛𝑒 2, 2017)

💬𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘, 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠, 𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑚𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑜𝑠 𝑎 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑤 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑠?

Sourses: kofiandlarteyfilm.com, uDiscover Music, Independent
Photo credit pic 1: kofiandlarteyfilm.com, Michael Hobdell / edit by Olga

Post by Olga