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Stumble itTune in Tuesday, October 25th as KXLU Los Angeles, 88.9 FM presents Center Stage with Mark Gordon featuring Lavinia Currier the director of OKA!
Based on the memoir by Louis Sarno (“Last Thoughts Before Vanishing from the Face of the Earth”), OKA! is a fish-out-of-water tale of a ethnomusicologist from New Jersey who finds himself immersed in the colorful lives ofthe Bayake pygmies.Based on the memoir by ethnomusicologist Louis Sarno, who has lived with the pygmies for over 20 years, OKA! transports audiences to the vast forest of the Central African Republic into the magical world of the Bayaka and lyrically captures their music, dance, humor and exuberance, as well as the harsh realities they endure.
The forest dwelling tribe of Bayaka pygmies is famed for its acute hearing (‘Oka!’ means ‘listen!” in their Akka language).When the tribe’s revered leader hears a menacing new sound in the forest, his super-sensory powers send a message to “Big Ear,” his ethnomusicologist friend Larry Whitman (Kris Marshall, Love Actually), from his sickbed in New Jersey.Against doctor’s orders, Larry travels to his friends in Central Africa to help them battle Mayor Bassoun (Isaach de Bankolé,The Limits of Control), a powerful local politician who is helping Mr. Yi (Will Yun Lee, Die Another Day), a developer with a logging company intent on destroying the Bayaka’s forest home.
Refusing to give in, Larry and the pygmies humorously concoct a series of obstacles to try to prevent the loggers, all while continuing to enjoy their colorful way of life with music and dance inspired by the beauty of the African forest, its animals and magical spirits.
Written by Louis Sarno & Lavinia Currier and Suzanne Stroh, OKA! is directed by Lavinia Currier and produced by James Bruce and Lavinia Currier.Conrad W. Hall is director of photography and music is by Chris Berry and the musicians of Yandombe.An official selection of the 2010 Telluride Film Festival, OKA! is filmed mainly in the Dzanga Sangha Protected Reserve in southwest Central African Republic.
