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Coming to Streaming on April 22, 2025
DUSTY & STONES
The award-winning documentary about two African country music singers who dream big follows its theatrical rollout with a streaming premiere on Amazon & Apple TV!
Director Jesse Rudoy, Producer Melissa Adeyemo and Dusty & Stones
are available for interviews.
 
Dusty & Stones chronicles the remarkable ride of cousins Gazi “Dusty” Simelane and Linda “Stones” Msibi, a struggling country music duo from the tiny African Kingdom of Swaziland who long for their big break.

When they are unexpectedly invited to record in Nashville and to compete in a Texas battle of the bands, Dusty and Stones embark on their long-awaited first pilgrimage to the ancestral heart of country music. Over a momentous ten-day road trip through the American South, the duo bring their music to life in a top recording studio and immerse themselves in the culture they’ve long felt part of from afar.

But the dream journey is suddenly thrown into disarray when the singers arrive in the small town of Jefferson, Texas, where trouble with the local backing band threatens to derail the cousins’ debut American performance. A shell-shocked Dusty and Stones must take the stage and fight to bring home an award for Swaziland.
Watch the Trailer
Photos
Film Website


“One of the most compelling and joyful music documentaries of the year.”
-Living Life Fearless
“A wondrous ten-day road trip through the American south.” -DOC NYC

“An often captivating crowd-pleaser…rife with terrific music and presence.” -The Film Stage
Read or Listen to NPR's All Things Considered
NPR's Rob Schmitz speaks with Jesse Rudoy, director of Dusty & Stones, about the African country music duo of the same name.
Festival Awards

Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature - Atlanta Film Festival
Jury Award for Best Director - RiverRun International Film Festival
Jury Award for Best Debut Feature - Florida Film Festival
Audience Award for Best Documentary and Jury Special Mention - San Luis Obispo International Film Festival
Jury Award for Best Feature - Thin Line Festival
Special Jury Mention - Sound_track Cologne
Special Jury Mention - Woods Hole Film Festival

Complete Festival List Here
DUSTY & STONES
Directed and Produced by Jesse Rudoy
Produced by Melissa Adeyemo
Executive Produced by Sam Bisbee and Cody Ryder
An Ominira Film in association with Park Pictures
84 minutes | color | 2023
About the Director
Jesse Rudoy is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and editor based in Brooklyn. His debut feature, Dusty & Stones, premiered at DOC NYC, screened at over forty film festivals worldwide, and was acquired by First Run Features. He was most recently an editor on the Emmy-nominated second season of HBO’s The Jinx. Jesse is an alumnus of the Gotham Documentary Lab, Film Independent Fast Track, and a recipient of HBO’s New True Stories grant. In addition to his filmmaking work, Jesse is co-founder of White Label Yerba Mate Soda, an alternative energy drink served in nightclubs and raves throughout New York City.

About the Producer
Melissa O. Adeyemo is a Nigerian-American producer and the founder of Ominira Studios, a New York-based production company. Her first feature, Eyimofe, premiered at the 2020 Berlinale, has shown at over 20+ festivals, and was acquired by Janus Films. It is currently a part of the Criterion Collection, where Melissa is the first-ever African female producer to be featured in her own standalone spotlight interview. Eyimofe was nominated for an NAACP Award and won five African Movie Academy Awards. Dusty & Stones is her first documentary feature film. Melissa started her filmmaking career with Spike Lee’s Inside Man and Steven Spielberg’s Munich.

Press Contact: Kelly Hargraves



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