M.I.A. Announces US & UK Release of MATANGI / MAYA / M,I.A. Documentary

Following rave reviews from Sundance Film Festival and Berlin Film Festival, M.I.A. has announced today, World Refugee Day, that Steve Loveridge's MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A will be released in the UK on September 21st and the US the week following, on September 28th.

The highly anticipated documentary chronicles the RISE to fame of British musician M.I.A (Paper Planes, Galang, Bad Girls) starting with her immigration from Sri Lanka to England as a young girl. Maya Arulpragasam is not only a musician who has been nominated for an Academy Award® (for Slumdog Millionaire), a Grammy Award and The Mercury Prize, but she is also an activist, style icon and, in the wake of an era striving for better representation and diversity, she is an important voice.

Drawn from a cache of personal video recordings from the past 22 years, director Steve Loveridge's 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, hip-hop beats and the unwavering, ultra-confident voice of a burgeoning multicultural youth.

Never one to compromise on her vision, Maya kept her camera rolling throughout. 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 explodes, becoming one of the most recognizable, outspoken and provocative voices in music today.

MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A.was produced by Cinereach (Beasts of the Southern Wild, Beach Rats), in association with Lori Cheatle of Hard Working Movies (KIKI, I Am Another You) and Doc Society.

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