Raw Music International

A series of short documentaries about underground music around the world, telling larger social, political, cultural stories through sound.

An independent series distributed by NBC News online (2013-2015), filmed in collaboration with Jacob Russell and a host of wonderful people around the world.

Raw Music: Burma [13 min, 2015]

As Burma opened up from five decades of brutal military rule, we traveled to the isolated rural highlands, where enclaves of ethnic minorities kept their language and cultures alive through song. For NBC News [watch above]. Dir. Cyrus Moussavi, Camera Jacob Russell

Raw Music: Mongolia [17 min, 2015]

Driven off the land by climate change and drawn to the capital city, Ulaanbaatar, by economic opportunity, Mongolia’s nomads are leaving behind centuries of culture and music within a couple generations. In Mongolia, we explored upheaval and urbanization through music. For NBC News [watch here]. Dir. Cyrus Moussavi, Camera Jacob Russell

Raw Music: Iraq [15 min, 2013]

The Kurdistan region of Northern Iraq was flourishing when we visited in 2014. Freed from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein, the oil money was pumping and a shellshocked society was finding something to celebrate. Helly Luv, a Kurdish refugee who grew up in Finland, returned to her homeland to blow minds and offend conservatives with her pop music and dance. Meanwhile, Iraj worked in the bazaar, one of hundreds of Iranian migrants drawn to Iraq by the relative economic prosperity. He sang of home with a heartbreaking quaver. We had no idea how short this period of light and peace would last. Months later, ISIS poured into the region. For NBC News [watch here]. Dir. Cyrus Moussavi, Camera Jacob Russell

Raw Music: Ukraine [15 min, 2014]

At the height of the Russo-Ukranian war, we spoke with young artists in Kharkiv and Odessa about nationalism, music, and the limits of art amidst conflict. For NBC News [watch here]. Dir. Cyrus Moussavi, Camera Jacob Russell