Stronger than Bullets

February, 2011. The people of Libya revolt against the brutal regime of Gaddafi. Amidst the dust of war, a message of defiance erupts in the form of music. Post-Revolutionary Blues explores this dramatic rise of counter-culture in this Saharan country

Description

“Guns bring war. Strings bring peace.” – Masoud Buisir, Libyan musician

Libya, 2011...Amidst the bloody revolution to overthrow the tyrant Muammar Gaddafi, a music scene emerges from the dust of war, and becomes the talisman of resistance. Filmed through the months of the uprising and its chaotic aftermath, POST-REVOLUTIONARY BLUES (PRB) captures the spirit of this counterculture that exploded out of the shackles of Gaddafi’s iron-fisted rule. After 42 years of silence, Benghazi resounds with a melodic fury that manifests in a staggering variety of musical genres. PRB transcends the standard war documentary, instead shining a unique light on the Arab Spring. It is an odyssey of people finding their voices for the first time in generations.

The tale begins in the midst of Gaddafi’s cruel reign. Fearful of the threat that freedom of expression poses, the regime comes down like a hammer on the perceived threat from the arts with giant bonfires of thousands of music instruments. As the spreading Arab Spring lights the fuse in Benghazi, a vibrant music scene blossoms overnight as the shining symbol of freedom.

The film introduces the musicians who emerge, and follows them as they stand shoulder-to-shoulder, guitar-to-rifle, alongside rebel fighters. DADO, a soft-spoken, pony-tailed musician and Bosnian war refugee, becomes the focal point as Libyan musicians gravitate toward his natural leadership. RAMI, a kind-faced virtuoso, writes what will become the anthem of the rebellion, but is killed only hours after completing it. The defiant MC SWAT rises as the voice of the streets with his searing brand of hip-hop. Grizzled BOFA transforms from a shy accountant into a Metal God as he grinds out bone-shattering riffs. Wild-haired and wild-haired MASOUD rushes headlong to the front with a Kalashnikov in one hand and a beat-up guitar in the other, and binds these two symbols into rousing revolutionary songs. Fearful of this artistic bloom, the Gaddafi regime deploys its 5th Column to brutally silence the artists. In response, the singers raise their voices...and the scene keeps growing.

After months of brutal war, Gaddafi's death paves the way for the musicians to celebrate their victory with a triumphant music festival. Yet when the tyrant falls, he shatters into a thousand Gaddafi’s, as shadowy elements emerge to halt the festival. Libya, once filled with hope for the future, descends into chaos. Rebels who fought side-by-side only months before now turn their guns on one other, and anyone who stands in their way. And as before, our heroes are forced to play in hiding to avoid the wrath of the new oppressors.

Refusing to be beaten, the musicians persevere even as Libya races toward the abyss of civil war. An epic song that tells their story emerges, and resounds beyond the crumbling basement walls and across the Great Desert, carrying these defiant words:

In the chaos and confusion
Of a new age still in its youth
Can’t tell what’s real from what’s illusion Music is the only truth...