Music Film: Mama Goema

A film by Sara CF de Gouveia, Calum MacNaughton & Angela Ramirez

55 Minutes | South Africa | 2011

If you take a pinch of Khoi-San lament, a dash of Malay spice, a measure of European orchestral, a splash of Xhosa spiritual, the clash of marching bands, the pizzazz of the Klopse, a driving primal beat and lots of humour and musical virtuosity, what do you get? Goema, Goema, Goema! Weaving together the ancient, the traditional and the classical into the distinctive sound of Cape Town, Mac McKenzie, musical mastermind and founder of the Genuines and the Goema Captains of Cape Town, puts the final touches on his most recent creation, “Goema Symphony No. 1.” Musicians Hilton Schilder, Ernestine Deane and Kyle Shepherd add context while the Cape Town Goema Orchestra rehearses for its première.