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Local ethnomusicologist Christopher Kirkley’s first film was ambitious enough: Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai was a loose remake of Purple Rain, filmed in Niger, starring African songwriter/guitarist Mdou Moctar, and entirely in the Tuareg language. But for his second feature, Zerzura, Kirkley has gone even further—slipping a tab of Jodorowsky under his tongue and creating a strange, mystical road movie.

Robert Ham is the Mercury's former Copy Chief. He writes regularly about music, film, arts, sports, and tech. He lives semi-consciously in far SE Portland with his wife, child, and four ornery cats.