SLRAS band Media Highlights PDF HIGH RESOLUSION (5.9MB) / LOW RESOLUTION (1.6MB)

Austin Chronicle
March 17, 2006
“The Refugee All Stars is big and rich and complex itself, all while matching the optimism of its subjects. Personal, political, generous, and skillfully edited amid the pitfalls of melding performance footage, interviews, and archival context, it bursts off the screen with the same brilliance and intensity that the band does onstage.”

The San Francisco Chronicle
July 13, 2006
“Niles and White paint a vivid, unflinching portrait of life in the refugee camps, but they don’t dwell on the horrors of the war. Their film is about the healing power of music…”

The Globe and Mail, Toronto
March 31, 2006
“…the film earns its crowd-pleasing reputation thanks to the thoughtful honesty of the interview subjects and the contagious warmth and directness of their music.”

The New York Times
“As harrowing as these personal tales may be, the music buoying them is uplifting. The cliché bears repeating: music heals and creates community.”

Amsterdam News
June 8, 2006
“Quickly evolving into this year’s Buena Vista Social Club…”

Seattle Alt Weekly
May, 2006
“If you don’t like this movie, then you have no soul.”

“A slice of good news from one of Africa’s most disabused regions”
-Variety

chartattack
“this film brilliantly captures how the power of music changes lives and inspires people to do great things.”

popmatters
?”… to pick up a guitar after losing their homes, to sing after witnessing the murder of their loved ones, to dance and make music after encountering the worst tragedies imaginable. Performing an impromptu number for the audience after the screening, the group’s joy was palpable and remarkable.”

msnbc
March 24, 2006?”It’s as easy to fall in love with these guys as it was with the “Buena Vista Social Club.”

THE NASHVILLE SCENE
Oct. 19 2006
“Gripping new documentary… Unlike many humanitarian-crisis documentaries that take a broad approach—with oodles of statistics and downtrodden throngs— Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars focuses on the experiences of just six people, putting a human face on the tragedy of war that is far harder to ignore.”

bilboard
June 29, 2006
“(Joe) Perry Throws Support Behind Sierra Leone Refugees”?”I was just so overwhelmed by the movie and the message of hope they’re carrying,” he continues. “The music is so buoyant and joyful.”

The Independent (UK)
11/24/06
“…The Refugee All Stars film is a hymn to the strength of the human spirit. It does not spare us from the graphic brutality of the conflict, but it juxtaposes it with life-affirming moments of defiant hope and forgiveness.”

Bernard Perusse Montreal Gazette
10/31/06
“The mind struggles to grasp the idea that tragedy and even horrific brutality can somehow give birth to life-affirming, uplifting music. But there is no better proof of that bittersweet truth than the joyful sounds of Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars…”