I recorded the voice of Hamed in Dakar, Senegal while on the shoot, Power of the Game (directed by Michael Apted).
Hamed was our “fixer.” I don’t know his last name. He organized transport, food, shooting schedules, and probably a lot more. Fixers are often the back bone of foreign shoots but rarely get much credit. As evidenced here by the fact I don’t even have his last name. But he had a great sense of humor so hopefully he’ll chuckle if he ever sees this.
When I asked if I could record him in my hotel room, the quietest place I could think of, the rest of the crew smirked… But really- that’s what we did. He speaks of his love for his parents, his life, his search for money, his happiness. In Wolof, French and English.
The Polish voice is Marie Maciak, an avante-garde filmmaker, teacher, dancer, mother, and so much more. We met in Conakry, Guinea in 1995, during a five week trip to study African dance and drum. In this piece I recorded her saying the names of different cities and reading a poem of sorts.. At one point we were laughing too hard and she said, “Wait, wait. I feel too joyous.”
