Under African Skies (NR)

synopsis

Featuring interviews with key anti-apartheid activists of the time and such musical legends as Quincy Jones, Harry Belafonte, Paul McCartney, David Byrne and Peter Gabriel, UNDER AFRICAN SKIES travels with Simon back to South Africa, 25 years after his first visit. Berlinger's film recounts the making of the record and surveys the controversy surrounding it's genesis and the political turbulence created in its wake. His artistic decision to collaborate with South African musicians created a new world musical fusion, combining American and African musical idioms while igniting an intense political crossfire, with Simon accused of breaking the UN cultural boycott of South Africa designed to end the Apartheid regime.