The music of Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars is a spirited, infectious, and soothing blend of traditional West African music, roots reggae and classic Rhythm & Blues.

Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars are comprised of musicians who lived for years as refugees in the West African nation of Guinea. Before having to flee their country, all of the members of the band lived in or around Sierra Leone's capital city, Freetown. Throughout the 1990s, Freetown had remained relatively safe from the rebel war that had turned much of the country into a bloody battlefield. Then in 1999 rebels attacked the city and forced a panicked mass exodus to neighboring countries. Each of the band members separately made their way to Sembakounya Refugee Camp in Guinea. Music brought them together and through a Refugee Aid Organization they were able to acquire a couple of beat up electric guitars along with a rusted out sound system and began forming Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars.

At Sembakounya Camp an American documentary film crew met Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars and after hearing their music and listening to their stories decided to make the band the focus of their new film. Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars documentary, four years in the making, is now garnering wide acclaim at film festivals around the world.

Seeing the film...

San Francisco, CA & Palo Alto, CA - USA
United Nations Association Film Festival
http://www.unaff.org/2006/
- San Francisco, October 18th - 8:30 PM
- Palo Alto, October 29th – 6:40 PM (Closing Night film)