Critically acclaimed British artist M.I.A. (Maya) rose to fame on the back of international hit-singles Paper Planes and Bad Girls. and now you can learn her backstory (and what a fantastic backstory it is, in this documentary)
Sixteen years after breaking out onto the music scene, MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A., a highly anticipated documentary, pulls back the curtain and allows you to see her extraordinary life and musical journey from her own perspective in just over 90 minutes. Straight from the offset this doc is massively interesting and not to take anything away from the filmmakers themselves, I think its the instantly likable Maya that draws you in.
I actually had never heard of Maya before I saw this documentary but by the end of it (in fact way before the end) I felt like I knew her. The oc is packed with with previously unseen footage,including home videos from her early years, news footage from Sri Lanka, and interviews with her friends and family and also a fascinating look at her involvement with the group Elastica.
The doc is directed by friend and fellow former student of St Martin’s, Steve Loveridge, and the blurb for MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A. promises to deliver viewers an unforgettable experience, charting the singer’s meteoric rise to stardom as well as her outspoken voice for multiculturalism and human rights and it certainly does manage to do that. I do enjoy music, I have heard a lot of music over the years but there are certainly so many artists that I wasnt familiar with until I saw them on a screen and Maya is one of them.
The documentary includes unseen footage from M.I.A.’s first-ever live performance as well as an original video featuring a performance and post-screening conversation with M.I.A in Johannesburg; plus behind-the-scenes footage of M.I.A.’s Sunshowers. iTunes customers will be able to enjoy exclusive deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes footage of M.I.A’s Borders, from 26th November, before the film releases with a host of extra features on Blu-ray and DVD from 10th December 2018.
As the end of the year approaches and I put together my list of favourite performances, favourite films and favourite documentaries. Matangi / Maya/ M.I.A is right up there in my favourite documentaries of the year which in a year of such docs as After The Screaming Stops, its a high benchmark but Matangi/Maya/ MIA is right up there and is not only a great film for music fans to watch, for filmmakers to wath, but its a highly interesting documentary for anyone to watch who ha an interest in the stories of people and where they came from, and of course how they get to where they are now.
Check it out. You wont be disappointed.
Available on iTunes Digital HD from 26th November and
on Blu-Ray & DVD from 10th December 2018
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