MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A. - Enzian Theater

Back by popular demand!

Drawn from a cache of personal video recordings from the past 22 years, the Sundance award winning MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A. is a startlingly personal profile of the critically acclaimed artist, chronicling her remarkable journey from refugee immigrant to pop star. She began as Matangi. Daughter of the founder of Sri Lanka’s armed Tamil resistance, she hid from the government in the face of a vicious and bloody civil war. When her family fled to the UK, she became Maya, a precocious and creative immigrant teenager in London. Finally, the world met her as M.I.A. when she emerged on the global stage, having created a mashup, cut-and-paste identity that pulled from every corner of her journey along the way; a sonic sketchbook that blended Tamil politics, art school punk, and hip-hop beats. Eye-opening and uncompromising, MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A. provides unparalleled, intimate access to the artist in her battles with the music industry and mainstream media as her success and fame explode, becoming one of the most outspoken and provocative voices in music today.

USA/UK, 2018, 95 min, Directed by Stephen Loveridge, Not Rated, In English and Tamil with English subtitles

“Fantastic…this is not a normal pop documentary because M.I.A. is not a normal pop star.”
– THE ATLANTIC
“Filled with exhilarating music, this biopic of international star Maya Arulpragasam also takes a hard look at the price of fame.”
– Kevin Lally, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
“It is the synthesis of these contradictions, and how they've illuminated M.I.A.'s career path that makes up the spine of Loveridge's fascinating portrait.”
– Piotr Orlov, NPR
“The film is energetic and uncomfortable and acutely personal."
– Jennie Kermode, EYE FOR FILM
“It's a film as compellingly all over the shop as its subject.”
– Guy Lodge, VARIETY
“Furiously alive with M.I.A's unwavering spirit, and makes excellent use of her thrilling, worldly music.”
– George Fenwick, New Zealand Herald