SLAVES OF THE GODS

Much is heard in the media about child slavery and trafficking in West Africa. But mention the words Trokosi, Fiashidi, Voodounsi and it will draw a blank. Covered in a veil of fear and tradition, one pf the oldest forms of slavery on earth is still alive and well in Ghana and other neighbouring countries. It does not involve trafficking or forced movement to other areas or countries, instead it happens on the doorsteps of the victims and their families live close to the locations in which they are entrapped. It is shrouded in superstition and manipulation of vulnerable people.

Today hundreds of young girls from the Ewe tribe in Ghana are held as slaves in unspeakable conditions, victims of a vicious form of modern day slavery which manifests itself as ritual abuse in idol shrines. They are forced against their will into a horrendous web of bondage under the mask of traditional religion. The girls are called ‘Trokosi’ or ‘wives of the gods’ and they are held in fetish shrines as living human sacrifices.

This documentary film will get behind the veil of fear and reveal the inner worlds of these girls and the fetish priests who control their lives.

SCRAP METAL: THE TOUR

The search for Irelands greatest hard-rock tribute band and getting them on the line-up for the ultimate gig.

Scrap Metal is a 5 part prime-time presenter lead RTE documentary music series highlighting Irelands first ever battle of the tribute bands tour. It has been especially commissioned to bring a more left field approach to RTE’s scheduling.

This high-octane series will bring five rock tribute bands to new heights exploring the double lives they lead. It is based around an 8 day tour of Ireland with a band being eliminated every second day of the tour. The winner then goes on to headline Glastonbudget in the UK, the mecca of international tribute bands!

As these great pretenders tour they will be supported and mentored by iconic legendary figures of the hard rock world – Saxon’s main-man Biff Byford, the well respected Brian Tatler of Diamond Head - noted for his infamous guitar riffs and a major influence on Metallica’s and Megadeath’s sound and of course the man that helped shape Thin Lizzy as one of the most influential guitar bands in music history - Brian Robertson.

The series will be presented by Ireland’s home grown funny man Karl Spain.

Featuring an incredible line-up, it promises to be the most entertaining and ultimate rock event of the season. So lock up your daughters, pull on your tight trousers, pick up your air guitar and get ready to bang your head.

Featuring Ireland’s greatest monsters of rock:

Ireland Maiden
Metallitia

Thunderstruck

The Rubber Plants
User Illusion

Visit the website: www.scrapmetalthetour.com

ABANDONED BY GOD - 52 minutes
With the end of the Touareg rebellions in Mali and Niger in the 1990 ’s the Touareg nomads have entered a critical stage of their history.  Traumatic years of conflict and its aftermath torn apart Touareg society and forced it to confront the modern world. Old hierarchies of tribes and families were broken, traditional patterns of nomadic life and ancient cultural practices were abandoned, and many young Touareg exchanged the utter silence of their desert home for the bustle of refugee camps and life at the edges of modern cities.

To capture this complex dialectic taking place between their traditional culture and the profundity of change and modernity that is threatening to overwhelm them ‘Abandoned By God’ captures the stories and voices of 2 people who represent different sides of Touareg and nomadic culture today; Sidi Mohamed, an elderly Touareg herder who has spent his life locked in a struggle against droughts, locusts and the threat of oblivion, and Fadimata Walet Oumar, vocalist with the internationally renowned Touareg group ‘Tartit’.

Framed against the backdrop of the ‘Festival in the Desert’, the great annual desert gathering of nomads, their stories tell of the singularity of Touareg life and reveal the struggle to be a Touareg in modern times.

BEHIND THE DESERT WALL - 52 minutes

This documentary gives voice to the Saharawi people and seeks to understand how, through the tragedy of exile, a group of nomadic people has forged a strong sense of nationhood and an unwavering dedication to the cause of an independent homeland.