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About The banjo boys

The Story

Yobu Maligwa and Yosefe Kalekeni had been dragging their bulky, handmade instruments through the hot streets of Lilongwe for ten years when they met Neil. The fellow street musician, a broke backpacker from the UK, who was combing the capital of Malawi for gigs, was as fascinated by the the duo’s instruments as much as their music: The instruments were built from listening since their childhood to the tunes of Pamela Nkhuta and Billy Kaunda on the radio, without actually ever seeing the real instruments, let alone being able to afford them. Little did they know that a casual parking lot encounter would catapult them on a journey of thousands of miles through the African continent and later overseas to the global stages of Roskilde and Womad.

The Movie

The movie recounts the captivating story of this accidental trio, their individual lives and their shared love of music. It then follows the protagonists into the future to their first ever US tour (2023) and a concert in the metaverse. It's the story of how even small steps forward always lead to luck, of how naivety allows us to defy all odds and how passion builds resilience. As a result, together, these individuals are able to transform their lives, the lives of those that surround them and strike a chord with their audience in a dozen countries.

Our film is unearthing the underlying threads that result in the serendipitous nature of the storyline. The joy and pain of a musical trio, their heartfelt personal stories and their captivating music will not only entertain, but inspire the audience to build their own instruments of change.

The Production

The movie production is a continuation of the way the band has evolved: a grassroots initiative bootstrapped with the help of many individuals that have been captivated by the story as well as sharing a passion for film, media and technology. The team has been able to obtain small amounts of funding from different sources (including the Near Foundation and AstroDAo) but mostly benefited from voluntary work. While we are seeking further funding we intend to keep the production lean and most of all a fun experience.

The Organization

The producer's passion for blockchain technology has led us to set up a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) instead of a classical LLC. As a DAO we can achieve a higher degree of transparency, provide more opportunities for member participation and reduce administrative overheads. Furthermore it allows us to rely on innovative mechanisms like NFTs to reward contributions and obtain funding for the project. All funds received by the DAO - be it donations, investments or licensing revenue - will be accounted for transparently as much as possible. All excess funds (or profits) wil be retained in the DAO treasury and managed by the DAO members to support further film, music and art projects in the region.

The Team

Neil (the accidental band manager) and Tim (a nomadic tech entrepreneur) coincidentally bumped into each other in Liwonde national park in September 2021 where their families had become friends. After enjoying some time and beer together, they decided together with Johan (Neil's brother and passionate film maker), to restart the production of a documentary project Johan had initiated the year before. They managed to secure a small grant from the Near Foundation and infect others on the way: Alberto, Yuri, Emmanuel, and Satesh.

The numbers of team members, contributors, promoters and participants of the project is growing continuously as the project evolves. In this moment we could use help with the following:

  • Designing and executing a NFT campaigns on the Near BlockChain
  • Contacting and engaging opinion leaders and media to spread the word
  • Contacting and engaging companies and NGO for funding
  • Producing and publishing social media content
  • Licensing and distribution
  • Develop new aspects of the website

The Contributors

While the production of the film is bootstrapped and mostly carried out through voluntary and post pay work the project relies on funding from external sources. We are delighted by any kind of contribution in fiat (USD, Euro, etc) as well as crypto (BTC, ETH, near, etc) and we have provided contributors with several levels of recognition and reward they can opt into..

All contributors Mention on website
> $100 U$ DAO token with voting rights
> $500 U$ Contributor NFT
> $1.000 U$ Movie closing credits
> $10.000 U$ Limited edition personalized NFT (max 10)
> $50.000 U$ Movie title credits (e.g: executive producer)

More ways to contribute!

Tweet about the movie and get a promoter NFT.