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DUSTY & STONES

By Jesse RUDOY

Second film - Post-Production 2021

Dusty and Stones struggle to sustain a country music career in Swaziland and yearn for success in the US. When a Texas battle of the bands comes calling, the two cousins embark on a country music pilgrimage through the American South determined to turn their careers around and win big for Swaziland.

- Year of production
- 2021
- Genres
- Second film, Documentary
- Countries
- SWAZILAND, USA
- Languages
- SWAHILI, ENGLISH-UNITED STATES
- Duration
- 90 mn
- Director(s)
- Jesse RUDOY
- Producer(s)
- Melissa ADEYEMO
- Synopsis
- Gazi “Dusty” Simelane and Lindokuhle “Stones” Msibi are cousins and songwriting partners who translate the American tradition of country music into their completely original African vernacular. Their creativity and determination changes perceptions of the tiny African kingdom of Swaziland.
  
  Growing up, Dusty and Stones were superfans of a weekly radio show of classic American country music that reached the isolated valley where they lived and farmed cattle. In the songs of artists like Dolly Parton, Don Williams and Kenny Rogers, the cousins heard the joys and hardships of their own rural lives reflected back to them in vivid detail. It turns out that country music is popular among a whole generation of Africans -- [Don Williams sold out a stadium show in Zimbabwe back in 1997,] the 2020 death of Rogers was broadly and deeply mourned, from Kisumu, Kenya to the Limpopo River. This global event helps give local context.
  
  Despite the genre’s popularity, launching an international career as an original country act in Swaziland has never been tried before. We enjoy a patient montage of extended wide shots showcasing Swaziland’s rural, stuck-in-time beauty. We see our heroes after years of practice, working to transform their unique Swazi take on Nashville-style songs into fame and fortune. The cousins, now in their 30s, have become Swaziland’s most accomplished country singer/songwriters. A fledgling national country scene has sprouted up around them. We see them on the radio and practicing for live shows.
  
  They begin working on a song, “The River,” that shares parts of their life story. We learn that the two cousins have each lost parents and have clung to one another as siblings. Their song tells a story of a girl washing clothes on a riverbank and meeting eyes with a boy from across the river. The construction of this song, which is a true story about their still-living grandparents, helps us see how universal country music tropes -- faith, family, and land -- inform their creative production.