Voices Rising: The Music of Wakanda Forever

I've always been a fan of the Black Panther films for many reasons, one of which is how the films seamlessly fuse ancient wisdom with futuristic innovation. It wasn’t until I became part of the crew for VOICES RISING: THE MUSIC OF WAKANDA FOREVER that I realized how this approach transcended not only the films but also the music.

When we started the series, I was in awe of the footage of Proximity’s founder, director Ryan Coogler and Proximity co-founder, composer Ludwig Göransson as they worked with musicians from various walks of life. From traditional musicians in Nigeria and Mexico to contemporary artists like Fireboy DML and ​​Foudeqush. Under the direction of Bernardo Ruiz and Meji Alabi, we were able to capture vérité footage of sessions with musicians as they meticulously wove the themes of the film into the music.

Filming was both exciting and challenging—production required extensive planning as well as a deep reliance on our crew’s intuition, because as filmmakers, we did not want to disturb the natural synergy among musicians in the studio. Without a doubt, the intimacy of these sessions allowed us to capture the musical genius that spanned continents, cultures, generations, and musical genres. In addition to vérité footage, it was important for us to incorporate interviews with musicians speaking about their own ancestral traditions and instruments. This was eye-opening because it allowed us to capture unexpected parallels between instruments and sounds across the world.

Beyond filming, collaborating with musicians and colleagues at a global scale was one of the most rewarding experiences of this journey. I learned so much from our partners about the music and film industries in Lagos and Mexico City. Of course, coordinating production across continents came with its own set of challenges, but helping to produce a global series and seeing the magnitude of commitment and talent across the board made it all worthwhile.

Gaby Arvizu
Co-Producer