Bassist with Indian roots stars in documentary on desi influences of Israeli musicians
TORONTO: The closing night film for the 25th anniversary of the Toronto Jewish Film Festival has an unusual setting – India. The documentary Mandala Beats, directed by Montreal-based Rebekah Reiko, features celebrated Israeli musician Yossi Fine as he discovers his roots in India and undertakes his first journey to the country.
Fine is renowned as a bassist, having worked with David Bowie and Lou Reed, and Indian artistes such as Anoushka Shankar. While he is of mixed Lithuanian and Jamaican descent, he found out a couple of years ago that his great-grandmother was originally from India.
“I was floored because I never knew about this, nobody talked about it,” Fine said in an interview.
A few months later, he received an invitation to perform at a festival in Jodhpur. “I always wanted to but all of a sudden it was way, way stronger,” he said.
Just as fateful was his encounter with Reiko on a flight from Tel Aviv to Mumbai in 2015. Reiko was focused on making a film about Israeli musicians and their Indian influence. “I thought making a movie about music in those two places, with distinct styles mixing together, would be so cool,” she said.
And after talking to Fine, she settled upon her central character: “He told me his whole story and that was part of the reason why I wanted to focus on him.”
The film accompanies Fine as he hones in on Indian rhythms prior to his performance in Jodhpur and for an impromptu concert of sorts in Rishikesh. That makes for a movie that is visually strong and one that comes with its own soundtrack, created along the way.
Reiko said the two locations were “both very contrasting”. The film is a joint Canadian-Israeli-Indian production, and Reiko said while a few scenes were set in Israel, “the majority of the film was filmed in India.” It will be screened on May 14, the last day of the festival which begins this Thursday.