SCREENING & EVENT LINEUP
All in-person events take place at Maysles Documentary Center unless otherwise indicated.
Admission is free of charge. Advance ticket reservations now available!
Most films will also be available for streaming from October 14th - 31st, unless otherwise indicated.
Friday, October 14th
7:30PM
FREE EVENT
WATCH Q&A HERE
THE RUMBA KINGS
Dir. Alan Brain, 2021, 94 min.
Documentary, US & DR Congo
French & Lingala, w/ English subtitles
The Rumba Kings is a joyous exploration of the liberating power of music. In the 1950s, when the Democratic Republic of the Congo was still under harsh Belgian rule, a generation of Congolese musicians decided to use popular music to fight colonial oppression. They fused traditional African rhythms with Afro-Cuban music to create the musical genre known as Congolese rumba, an infectious groove that provided a space of freedom and resistance against the cruelty and humiliation that the Congolese were facing in subjugation. After its birth, the electrifying Congolese rumba beat never stopped. Congolese rumba carried the country through its quest for independence, producing the most famous African independence anthem ever created, conquering the entire continent with its captivating guitar sounds, and forging the identity of an entire nation. On one level, The Rumba Kings is the stunning story of how the Congolese rumba sound developed and later conquered Africa. On another level, the film is an emotional statement about how music can break barriers, heal wounds, and bring hope. Through original interviews, music recordings, archival footage, and never-before-seen live music performances, The Rumba Kings is the journey of the sound that shaped a nation and gave Africa its own musical stars such as Franco Luambo and the OK Jazz orchestra, Grand Kallé and Dr. Nico and the African Jazz orchestra, who were as popular across Africa as any famous western rock band. Sit back, press play, pump up the volume and meet The Rumba Kings. Because Congo’s real treasure does not lie underground.
Followed by Q&A w/ Lubangi Muniania
+ More About the Film
Watch trailer for THE RUMBA KINGS here
Alan Brain Delgado is an award-winning Peruvian filmmaker and journalist. His career includes editing and directing commercial ads, TV series, short films, as well as feature-length documentary and fiction films. Alan Brain has worked as story editor for several prominent Peruvian journalists such as César Hildebrandt, one of the most important Peruvian journalists of the last decades. Alan has also collaborated as an editor, in several projects of the renowned Peruvian Hollywood Film Director and Producer, Luis Llosa. From 2008 until 2014, Alan worked as a documentary filmmaker for the United Nations mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There, Alan developed a passion for Congolese music and started working in The Rumba Kings.
Lubangi Muniania is an art educator from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, specializing in the visual and performing arts of Africa. Lubangi worked as the Director of Education at the Museum for African Art in New York. He has produced educational events for organizations such as Harvard University, Yale University, Columbia University, the United Nations, Africa-America Institute, Sony, AT&T and NBC. Lubangi has been the producer of several documentary films related to the Democratic Republic of the Congo such as the Bill Moyers PBS Journal episode about the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Memories of Lumumba film for the Museum for African Art of New York. Currently, Lubangi Muniania is the President of Tabilulu Productions, an organization dedicated to promoting a positive image of Africa that aims to challenge many misconceptions about Africa, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Saturday, October 15th
7:30PM
FREE EVENT
WATCH Q&A HERE
Co-Presented by New York African Film Festival
JUWAA
Dir. Nganji Mutiri, 2021, 85 min.
Narrative, Belgium & DR Congo
French w/ English subtitles
An act of violence shatters a young Congolese family, separating 10 year old Amani from his mother Riziki. A decade later they reunite in Belgium. Still haunted by their past, Amani and Riziki struggle to reconnect, slowly revealing all the layers that will redefine their relationship. Shot in Belgium and in the Congo, Juwaa is a subtle and powerful drama based on African characters rarely seen on screens.
Preceded by:
MORE THAN I WANT TO REMEMBER
Dir. Amy Bench, 2022, 14 min.
Documentary Animation, USA
English
One night at her home in southeastern Congo, 14-year-old Mugeni awakes to the sounds of bombs. As her family scatters to the surrounding forests to save themselves, Mugeni finds herself completely alone. This lushly animated documentary follows her journey to the US to begin a new chapter in her life.
Followed by Q&A w/ filmmakers Nganji Mutiri (JUWAA) and Maya Edelman (MORE THAN I WANT TO REMEMBER), moderated by Farima Kote Kito from New York African Film Festival
+ More About the Films
Watch trailer for JUWAA here
Nganji Mutiri is an award-winning artist born in Bukavu/Congo and currently living in Belgium. He works in theatre, cinema, poetry and photography, always looking for connections and perspectives between the singular and the universal. JUWAA is his first feature film as a writer/director.
Amy Bench is a filmmaker and visual artist who is drawn to the immediacy of film
and photography to tell stories of community and resilience. Trained as a cinematographer, her
observational style highlights small details of the human experience that transcend formal explanation.
Amy’s animated documentary "A Line Birds Cannot See" (2019) won Special Jury Recognition at SXSW,
Best Animated Short at Bend Film Festival, Best Doc Short at Oak Cliff Film Festival, and is now available
on The New Yorker, where it was nominated for the 2020 Ellie Award (video) for excellence in digital
magazine journalism. Her next film in the series, "More Than I Want to Remember" (2022) has won 4
Oscar-qualifying awards in 2022 (Tribeca, Hot Docs, Cleveland, and deadCENTER) and will be released on Paramount Plus later this fall.
Maya Edelman is an illustrator and animation director who was born in Kiyv, USSR and moved to New York in 1993. She studied animation and film at Pratt institute, and went on to create a body of work spanning a variety of themes and media, including animation for documentaries, and short films, and has received an EMMY award for her work on Broad City. Short films she animated have screened at DOC NYC, Sundance, and SXSW. She has frequently contributed animated sequences to live action feature films. In her personal work Maya Edelman explores themes related to water, borders between physical spaces, sleep and wakefulness, life and death.
Originally from Burkina Faso, Farima Kote Kito grew up in Dakar, Senegal where she developed a strong passion for the visual arts, fashion, and African cinema. Farima is a culture writer, curator, and independent researcher who primarily focuses on the concept of identity reconstruction within a post-colonial west African context, with a particular interest in gender studies, Islamic studies, fashion, and cinema studies. Farima is currently a curator and office manager at the African Film Festival, Inc.
***OFF-SITE EVENT***
Bronx Documentary Center Annex
364 East 151st Street
Bronx NY 10455
FREE EVENT - IN-PERSON ONLY!
Sunday, October 16th
4:00PM
Co-Presented by Bisonabiso, Tabilulu Productions, Bronx Documentary Center, and The New York Times Headway
Join us at the Bronx Documentary Center for the Closing Reception of Congo in Conversation for two short films by filmmaker/artist Maliyamungu Muhande. The screenings will be accompanied by a live music and dance performance by legendary Congolese artist, teacher and healer Titos Sompa, and will be followed by an intimate conversation with the filmmaker, artists, and participants of the films, moderated by Liz Kimbulu, founder of the Bisonabiso Initiative.
Following the Q&A we will serve traditional Congolese food and attendees will have a chance to reflect on and discuss some of the key themes in the films — what it means to be part of a community, what comes of displacement and how to stay connected.
The conversation will be facilitated by Headway, an initiative of the New York Times, which is exploring questions like these in Congo, Washington D.C., New York City and elsewhere around the world.
UNTITLED
*Work in Progress*
Dir. Maliyamungu Muhande, 2022, 20 min.
Documentary, US
English
Shortly after moving to New York City, Congolese filmmaker Maliyamungu Muhande connects with Thelma Loubaki, an African American woman celebrating and preserving Soukous music and dance. Muhande then meets the legendary Papa Titos Sompa, who was instrumental in bringing Congolese culture to the New York music and art scene. This autoethnographic documentary unfolds as an investigation of Soukous as a portal across continents, reflecting on cultural displacement and cultural connection from afar.
NINE DAYS A WEEK
Dir. Maliyamungu Muhande, 2020, 15 min.
Documentary, US
English
African American street photographer Louis Mendes began his career in 1953 Harlem as a door-to-door baby photographer. Taking street portraits across the city, through the civil rights movement, the drug epidemic, crime, and poverty, Mendes forged a living with his 1940s Speed Graphic press camera. Now a New York legend with 37 photographer apprentices, he reflects on a life of hard work, survival, and creativity.
Film screening preceded by drum call and live musical performance by Papa Titos Sompa, and followed by Q&A with director Maliyamungu Muhande, Papa Titos Sompa, and Louis Mendes, moderated by Liz Kimbulu (Bisonabiso). Event will close with Congolese food and group discussion.
+ More About the Event
Maliyamungu Muhande is a Congolese artist and filmmaker, professor, and curator based in New York. She currently has a solo exhibition Kobikisa at The International Studio & Curatorial Program. Recently she has been selected as a Sundance Producers Lab & Summit participant. Her documentary short, ‘Nine Days a Week’ about NYC street photographer Louis Mendes, screened at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, 2020 Doc NYC festival, and was selected by the 2020 National Board of Review. She is currently developing it into a feature length film. In 2020, Muhande led a six-week summer program in partnership with ENGN Civic Creative Center and Sullivan County Center for Workforce with underserved teenagers in Monticello, New York, teaching them how to create their own documentaries. She was the curatorial advisor for curator Amy Rosenblum Martín’s (she/ella) Adjani Okpu-Egbe exhibition “on Delegitimization and Solidarity: Sisiku AyukTabe, the Martin Luther King Jr. of Ambazonia, the Nera 10, and the Myth of Violent Africa” (2021-2022) at ISCP, which Hyperallergic named one of NYC's Top 10 Exhibitions of 2021. Her most recent film , “Alive in Death”, had its New York City premiere in May at Maysles Documentary Center as an official selection of Prismatic Ground 2022 and she currently has a solo exhibition. This quadrilingual (Swahili, Lingala, French, English) artist is currently a fellow and artist-in-residence at Adobe x Sundance Ignite (2021-2022), International Studio and Curatorial Program (2022) and Creative Culture at Jacob Burns (2022). Her filmmaking and artistic practice actively refuses and unlearns colonial norms by all means necessary. Her work is rooted in inquisitiveness around identity, Blackness, and her diasporic history.
Originating from the Congo (Brazzaville), Titos Sompa is a gifted and charismatic performing artist, teacher, and healer who for decades has inspired audiences with his holistic blend of music, dance, singing, folklore and spirituality. In the early 1970’s he and lead drummer Coster Massamba brought Congolese culture to the New York artistic scene, and he was the first to introduce the earthly and fluid Congolese style of simultaneous dancing and singing to American audiences. He has performed with such jazz greats as Sun Ra, Elvin Jones, Pharoah Sanders, Ron Carter, Leon Thomas, Eddie Jefferson, Dave Murray, Arthur Blythe, Olu Dara, and Chico Freeman among others. Over the years he as also trained and nurtured numerous Congolese artists including Mbemba Jean Louis, Malonga Casquelourd, and Samba Ngo, as well as Fred Simpson, Oba Babatunde, and Monte Hallison who later became masters in their own right. In 1988, Mr. Sompa founded Mbongi Dance Theater Project, a non-profit dedicated to advancing and celebrating the cultural arts of Africa, especially the music and dance of Congo. He writes:
"It is important that we pay attention to the young people in our community. We need to let them know who they are and where they come from. If they can grab onto it, then they can be the teachers for future generations... We must listen to what our children say to have better communication with them. If we respect one another, then we are able to learn from one another. That is what African teaching is all about."
Liz Kimbulu was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and immigrated to the U.S. at a young age. She is currently attending the NYU School of Professional Studies to obtain a Masters in Integrated Marketing. She consults on social media and digital strategy, and has worked with brands such as Global Beauty Care, HEAR Congo, ElewaTv, and much more. In 2019, She founded BISONABISO, a media and events platform highlighting and celebrating the many intersections between the African Diaspora and Congolese culture, heritage, and people. BISONABISO hosts the inaugural Congolese Women's Forum and other events to bring people together for collaboration, cultural exchange, and connection. Recently, they premiered a Docuseries called Kinshasa by Locals, which explores the complexities of living and thriving in Kinshasa.
Thursday, October 20th
7:30PM
FREE EVENT - IN-PERSON ONLY
SECRET SCREENING REVEALED!
LE VOLCAN INTERDIT (THE FORBIDDEN VOLCANO)
Dir. Haroun Tazieff, 1966, 79 min.
Documentary, France
French w/ English subtitles
This rare documentary is an account of vulcanologist Haroun Tazieff's long love story with the formidable Nyriagongo volcano situated in present day eastern DR Congo, from 1948 when Tazieff became the first man ever to climb it and into the 1960s as he continued to study and explore it's mysteries. The film was made in collaboration with Chris Marker (12 MONKEYS, SAN SOLIEL, THIRD SIDE OF THE COIN), who wrote the narration, voiced by French actor Pierre Vaneck (SCIENCE OF SLEEP, OTHELLO, LOVE ME NO MORE). It was an Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Feature in 1967, but faded into obscurity for reasons unknown. A colleague of ours recently discovered a short version of this film and then tracked down the feature, which we have translated and subtitled, and are sharing with you. You won’t be see this anywhere else! Special thanks to Jean-Michel Frodon and Jake Perlin for making this screening possible, and thank you to Horeb Bulambo Shindano for translation, and Louis Abelman for subtitling and additional translation.
Preceded by:
NGOMA
*Sneak Peek*
Dir. Peter Miyalu, 2022, 16 min.
Documentary, DR Congo
Swahili w/ English subtitles
Living under an active volcano represents a dangerous risk, but also an opportunity for constant renewal. Based on the ancient rituals associated with Nyriagongo, an active volcano in eastern Congo, the collective artwork of Atelier Mahindule explores new ways of incorporating indigenous knowledge into the urban context. Peter Miyalu’s NGOMA, one of the projects of Atelier Mahindule, presents a multidimensional portrait of Goma, the city that lies beneath the volcano. Ngoma is the authentic name for Goma — a mythical place where geological events collide with the daily life. NGOMA draws its substance from indigenous and contemporary memories of the city’s inhabitants, reframing a so-called “natural disaster” as sustainable transformation.
MAWE
*Sneak Peek*
Dir. Primo Mauridi, 2022, 12 min.
Experimental, DR Congo
Primo Mauridi's MAWE, also a project of Atelier Mahindule, offers a haunting, lyrical version of the local mythology surrounding Nyriagongo: "Through a revival ritual, Nyabhingi the goddess of abundance rises from the Liangombe breath Mazuku. She has to heal Goma from the destruction and reestablish ecological balance. Together with her warriors, she combs the streets of Goma. They witness the desolation caused by industrial arrogance which has desecrated the land, invoking the fury of Lingombe, the spirit of discipline who corrects all wrongs. Lingombe spits fire and Mahindule (lava) to warn the people for their transgressions against the buhuma philosophy and practice responsible for the relations between humans and all living beings!"
+ More About the Films
Haroun Tazieff was a Tatar, Belgian and French volcanologist and geologist. He was a famous cinematographer of volcanic eruptions and lava flow, and the author of several books on volcanoes. He was also a government advisor and French cabinet minister, and servied in the Belgian resistance during World War. In 1966 he directed the documentary LE VOLCAN INTERDIT, about Mount Nyriagongo in DR Congo, which he was the first European to climb in 1948. He died in 1998 and was buried in the Passy Cemetery in Paris.
Peter Miyalu was born in 2000 in Kinshasa, where he lives and works. He is currently studying visual communication at Académie des Beaux-Arts de Kinshasa. In 2019, he won 1st prize in the FFE’s Pocket Film competition, with his film LA DANSE DU MATIN. That same year, his video UTOPIE was part of the collective exhibition Images en mouvement et créa-teurs en puissance organized by the SADI collective at the Centre Mont des Arts in Kinshasa. He was recently in creative residency at Yolé Africa in Eastern Congo, where he directed NGOMA.
Mauridi Primo Jasmin is a photographer and filmmaker from Goma (DRC Congo). As a young artist he apprenticed for several years at the cultural center Yole Africa!, under the educational and artistic supervision of the filmmaker and activist Petna Ndaliko Katondolo. His film “Mawe” was presented at the Ishango encounter in Goma in June 2022, along with a series of photos of the same title. Realized within the framework of the Atelier Mahindule, he participated with film Bila Mask at the Congo in Harlem Film Festival, and this same year he won the Canon VII Academy scholarship. In April 2022 he participated in the international digital encounter La Rencontre Internationale des Arts Numériques et Visuels in Abidjan.
Friday, October 21st
7:30PM
FREE EVENT
WATCH Q&A HERE
THE WHITE CUBE
Dir. Renzo Martens, 2021, 79 min.
Documentary, The Netherlands & DR Congo
English, French & Lingala w/ English subtitles
Visitors to the temples of modern art in major Western cities as New York, London, Berlin and Amsterdam will be familiar with the so-called "white cube" gallery space showing critical art. But this critical art seldom benefits the local economy or position of the people who are the subject of this art. When one arises in the middle of a Congolese palm oil plantation, the effect is deeply disorienting. Furthermore, it draws attention to the often overlooked ties between colonialism and the art world, for example, through the multinationals that now proudly sponsor these Western museums often build with the profits of the colonial system. Building a museum at a former Unilever plantation in Leverville in Congo is part of artist Renzo Martens’s unorthodox plan to jump-start the local economy. Former workers at the plantation make sculptures that are reproduced in chocolate, and then succesfully exhibited in New York. The Congolese people, most of whom earn a dollar or less a day, use the profits from this successful exhibition* to buy back the land confiscated from them. This documentary sees Martens continue on from Enjoy Poverty (2008), in which he encouraged impoverished African people to use photography to exploit their own suffering. On that occasion however, the local population earned nothing from their efforts. This new film documents his attempt to reverse the flow of wealth and use the privileges associated with the art world to bring about real change.
Preceded by:
SENSORY OVERLOAD
Dir. Ganza Moise, 2022, 7 min.
Experimental, DR Congo
French w/ English subtitles
Seated in a bus after a long day, a mother drifts away in her existential thoughts. Blurring time, space and form, Sensory Overload is an audio-visual piece that explores how imagination can be an escape from the realities around us.
+ More About the Films
Watch trailer for THE WHITE CUBE here
Renzo Martens is a Dutch artist and filmmaker and currently serves as Co-Founder and Director of the Institute for Human Activities. The Institute has launched a five-year program in the Congolese interior, bringing together artists, thinkers and specialists. With a nod to precedents set in cities like New York and Berlin, the Institute aims to turn art production into an engine of economic growth in Congo, hoping to improve the lives of the people around its settlement.
Ganza Moise is a published author and independent filmmaker based in Kigali, Rwanda. He is co-founder of the independent production company Kiruri MFN. In 2015, he wrote and directed his first short film DESPAIR, and to date has directed more than 7 short films that have screened at worldwide festivals, including Moscow International Experimental Film Festival, and ZIFF. His film SENSORY OVERLOAD had its world premiere in the 67th Oberhausen International Film Festival where it won the jury’s special mention.
Saturday, October 22nd
7:30PM
FREE EVENT
WATCH Q&A HERE
LIBENDE BOYZ
Dir. Wendy Bashi, 2021, 46 min.
Documentary, DR Congo & Belgium
French & Swahili w/ English subtitles
Libende Boyz, meaning “Men of Steel” in Lingala, is the nickname of a group of young rappers who are fighting to tell their story and that of their hometown, Beni, a city in northeastern DR Congo, that has been routinely terrorized by civilian massacres since 2014. Fillmmaker Wendy Bashi accompanies the collective as they wield their unique blend of Congolese rumba, hip hop, dancehall, ragga and afrobeat in attempt to uplift their community and promote peace. But artistic expression is not always taken seriously in a city where everyone continually fears for their life. Following the Libende Boys in their public and private lives, Bashi weaves together voices of revolt, joy, love and friendship, creating a rich portrait of a resilient young generation busting with dreams of transforming the world around them.
Preceded by:
KABIBI
Dir. Elaisha Stokes, Prod. Horeb Bulambo Shindano, 2020, 11 min.
Narrative, US & DR Congo
French & Swahili w/ English subtitles
A schoolgirl in DR Congo daydreams about the woman she wants to become, in a tale that explores the solace we find in the clothes we wear and the shoes we walk in
Followed by Q&A w/ filmmakers Wendy Bashi (LIBENDE BOYZ), Elaisha Stokes & Horeb Bulambo (KABIBI) moderated by Boukary Sawadogo (Professor of Film Studies and Black Studies, City College) + Reception, Drinks and Dancing w/ Live Music by Nkumu Katalay
+ More About the Films and Event
Wendy Bashi was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She holds a degree in Information and Communication from the University of Liège in Belgium and a patent in Making TV News from Thomson Reuters. After training at the Swahili department of Voice of America, she began working as a presenter for TV5Monde for nine years. She has also worked for several newspapers as a freelance journalist. Wendy Bashi currently works as a journalist for the Francophone Africa department of Deutsche Welle. She has directed numerous documentaries which have been selected for several film festivals around the world.
Elaisha Stokes is an award winning journalist and documentary filmmaker, covering international human rights and foreign affairs. In 2014, she was awarded an International Women's Media Foundation Reporting Fellowship and the International Reporting Project's Religion Fellowship for her work in DR Congo. Her multimedia work appears regularly in The New York Times, Monocle Magazine and Global Post, and her film production company, Zetetic Films, has produced award winning documentaries for national broadcast.
Horeb Bulambo Shindano is a communications specialist, reporter and filmmaker. Horeb attended College Mwanga, majoring in Literature and Philosophy, and the Uganda School of Media, majoring in Photography and Video Production. He was the Field Producer of THIS IS CONGO (2017) and has worked for the Diane Fossey Gorilla Fund World Vision as a Communications Officer, specializing in hostile environments, MONUSCO as lead television reporter and as a field producer for numerous news and media organizations including Nation Geographic, New York Times, Vice News, CNN and Netflix. Horeb has directed and produced over 10 films including RACIAL PREJUDICE which won Best Narrative Film in 2008 at the Picha Film Festival in Lubumbashi, DRC.
Sunday, October 23rd
4:00PM
FREE EVENT
A HOUSE PLACED IN BETWEEN - POETRY IN THE COMFORTABLE GREY ZONE
Dir. Toshie Takeuchi, 2018, 37 min
Experimental Documentary, The Netherlands
English & French w/ English Subtitles
An ambiguous notion of territory, property and home. In 2009, the embassy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo located in the Hague, Netherlands was suddenly closed. Behind the closure was a legal fight that been taking place between the Congolese government and a debt collector. As the fate of the embassy sat in limbo, the building it had once inhabited was squatted by a group of artists, just a few days before squatting was formally outlawed in the Netherlands. Soon it was transformed into a collective living house with music, art and communal events. A HOUSE PLACED IN BETWEEN - Poetry in the Comfortable Grey Zone was shot between 2011-2016, by filmmaker Toshie Takeuchi, who at the time was living and working out of the Congoelse embassy. The project derives from Takeuchi’s encounter with a group of Congolese protestors in the house, during the turbulent period of unrest following the presidential election in the Congo in 2011. The outcome of the presidential election overwhelmingly but questionably favoured Joseph Kabila who was re-elected as president. Therefore, the opposition protestors – supporters of Étienne Tshisekedi – came to occupy the embassy in order to protest the rigged election results. To their surprise, the embassy was already occupied by foreigners. Having this event as a reference point, Takeuchi embarks on an exploratory journey into the history of D.R Congo and the embassy building itself. The film attempts to show the process of this research, and both personal and collective contemplation about the “protected” artists living in this ambiguous grey zone. The film also questions on the colonial legacy that remains embedded in today’s political system and our perceptions.
KASONGO (IM)MATERIAL
Dir. Noemie Arazi and Georges Senga, 2022, 39 min.
Documentary, Belgium & DR Congo
Lingala, Swahili & French w/ English subtitles
KASONGO (IM)MATERIEL explores the forgotten history of the Swahili-Arab in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Their trajectory from oppressors to oppressed along with the local adoption of their culture and language mirror the tensions and ambivalence of history and heritage. Interweaving scenes from excavations with archival material and contemporary recordings, an archaeologist and a photographer engage with the affective impact of that which persists from the past into the present.
Preceded by:
KELASI
Dir. Fransix Tenda Lomba, 2021, 11 min.
Animation, Belgium
French w/ English subtitles
The first animated film by visual artist Fransix Tenda Lomba is a kind of parcours through Congo’s historical education systems – and an analysis of the ideological function of the institution of the school. Using impressive collages and an always ironic commentary, the film – tellingly produced in Belgium – confronts its Western audience with their own ignorance about the region, challenging both their aesthetic and political thinking.
Followed by virtual Q&A w/ director Toshie Takeuchi (A HOUSE PLACED IN BETWEEN - POETRY IN THE COMFORTABLE GREY ZONE)
+ More About the Films
Toshie Takeuchi is a visual artist and filmmaker based in Denmark. She investigates people’s personal memories and stories in and around specific places, focusing on the over-looked or disregarded. She is interested in how narratives are curated and structured, how microscopic stories of individuals or small local cities can challenge on greater structure creating public narratives and how they can participate in suggesting different/new perspectives at geo-political level. Her work, which is based in theoretical, historical and philosophical research, incorporates photography, video and performance, and takes inspiration from the people she interviews.
Noemie Arazi was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and studied archaeology at University College London. She has been working in West and Central Africa for the past 20 years. Her practice combines archaeological and ethnographic data with the collection of oral histories and memories, participant observation, and archival research. More recently, she has focused on cultural heritage preservation in connection with infrastructure and mining projects. In 2016, she founded Groundworks—a non-profit organization that seeks to widen reflection and activate access to heritage and history, by working with individuals and groups of people from different backgrounds and disciplines.
Georges Senga, born in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo, is a photographer. His work focuses on history and personal stories that reveal themselves in memory, identity, and heritage, shedding light on our actions in the present. Three of his projects explore memory and search for the resonances that people, their actions, and objects leave behind, and the resilience of memory in his country, Congo. His work has been presented in various solo and group exhibitions for which he has won numerous prizes. He is currently in residence at the Villa Medici in Rome.
Fransix Tenda Lomba is a multidisciplinary visual artist from Kinshasa, DR Congo. His practice spans drawing, painting, sculpture and animated video. He is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kinshasa and an anchor artist at Kin ArtStudio in Kinshasa. He has participated in several residencies in Europe, Africa and the United States, such as at the Atelier Mondial in Basel, Switzerland (2021). Over the past few years, Fransix has been exploring archival elements, mixing documents and archival objects from his parents from the 1900s with official documents issued by the national authority. Fransix views these objects as witnesses to experience and history, living documents that bear the traces of daily life that tell the story of a postcolonial society.
STREAMING:
SOUS L’EAU LES LARMES DU POISSON NE SE VOIENT PAS
(UNDERWATER, NO ONE SEES THE FISH CRYING)
Dir. Delphine Wil and Jeanne Debarsy, 2022,
3 Episodes
Audio Documentary
French w/ English subtitles
Underwater, No One Sees The Fish Crying begins with a family quest. With her friend Jeanne, Delphine sets out to reconstitute the life of her grandfather, Félix, a Belgian missionary who left for the Congo in 1934. Their quest leads them from Belgium to the Congo, at the intersection of several generations.
STREAM AUDIO
EPISODE 1: 2022, 43 min
In the first episode, Delphine has convinced her mother Amélie to accompany her to the Congo, the country of her birth which she left at the age of seven, never to return. Delphine criticizes her mother for that break with her roots and her Congolese family. When the initial feeling of wonder and togetherness has gone, tension sets in between mother and daughter.
EPISODE 2: 2022, 47 min
In the second episode, Delphine and her mother meet two cousins, whose recollections shed new light on the roles and involvement of the Congolese family. Gradually, the character of Astrida Bwanakucha, Delphine's grandmother, emerges. Until now, she had been overlooked in the family history, even though she spent most of her life in Belgium. Delphine and Jeanne return to Belgium with the intention of diving deeper into the mysterious story of Astrida and her tumultuous life.
EPISODE 3: 2022, 52 min
In the third episode, Delphine and Jeanne meet Felix's Belgian family. They travel to Gaume and the Ardennes, where they find official archives of the Marcel-Bwanakucha family. They gain access to Astrida's medical file and visit the psychiatric hospital where she died after twenty years of internment. As they make their discoveries, a tumultuous and tragic life story emerges, rooted in a post-colonial society.
VIRTUAL CONVERSATIONS:
Saturday, October 29th
2-4pm EST
FREE EVENT
WATCH THE PANEL HERE
CLIMATE CHANGE: Frontline Voices from the Congo Basin Rainforest
Moderator:
Emira Woods, Executive Director, Green Leadership Trust
Panelists:
Samuel Yagase, Group of Village Organizations for Self-development
Dorothée Lisenga, Women’s Coalition for the Environment and Sustainable Development
Ovide Emba Botuli, Research Scientist, Institut Supérieur De Mbandaka, DR Congo
Hear from Dorothee Lisenga, advocate for women's land rights and winner of the 2018 WEDO Gender Justice Climate Solutions Award, Ovide Emba Botuli, research scientist specializing in the Congo Basin peatlands and Samuel Yagase Bayombe, community leader mobilizing rural communities for human rights and self-determination in the face of extractive industries in the Congo Basin.
This forum will address key issues of concern to the inhabitants of the Congo Basin Rainforest:
o DRC government auctioning of oil blocks in the rainforest
o Preserving the ‘Carbon Bomb’ of the peatlands
o Challenges of indigenous communities and frontline advocates living in the rainforest
o The responsibility of western nations in curbing pollution and delivering on their financial commitments to preserve the second largest rainforest in the world
Monday, October 31st
2-3pm EST
FREE EVENT
WATCH THE DISCUSSION HERE
RENZO MARTENS IN CONVERSATION
Join us for a live virtual conversation with artist Renzo Martens, as he speaks about his work and his most recent film WHITE CUBE, moderated by Maurice Carney and Kwame Wilburg of Friends of the Congo. Find Renzo on Facebook and Instagram.
DEDICATIONS:
Verckys Kiamuangana Mateta (May 19, 1944 - October 13, 2022)
Verckys was a force in the world of Congolese music. He was a saxophonist, composer, bandleader, producer, founder of the record label Éditions Vévé, and music-business executive who introduced many major Congolese artists to the world. A one time member of the legendary Franco’s legendary Orchestre TPOK Jazz, he left the band and became a legend in his own right, founding his own band Orchestre Vévé and managing Orchestre Kiam and Orchestre Lipua Lipua. We thank Verckys for the beauty he brought to this world through his music, which will carry his spirit for generations to come.
Dr. Shomari Harper (January 5th, 1959 - September 17, 2022)
On Monday, January 5th, 1959 at 8:48 at New York Infirmary in Manhattan, after 12 hours of labor to Darren Harper, was born to Leroy and Althea Harper. He was named Darren Kurt Harper, meaning dignity, strength and ambition, and he grew to embody each character trait. The family moved to East 96th Street in Brooklyn, where he was raised. At age 5 he graduated from kindergarten. The educational foundation he received at school was rewarding. He learned to love learning which was fueled by his intellectual curiosity. He started piano lessons at age 7 and performed on two occasions at Brooklyn Academy of Music. He developed a love for music and continued to play saxophone in high school and college. He played each instrument with equal excellence. His extracurricular activities
were scouting and karate and he became an Eagle Scout.
In keeping with his strong sense of community, Dr. Harper also served as the Coordinator of the Health Ministry and Kijana, the Young Men’s Rights of Passage program, at First Afrikan Presbyterian Church. He was an active member of several Pan-African community organizations including National Black United Front, Organization of United African Peoples, Organization of African Unity, National Action Network, Friends of the Congo and the Pan-African Federalist Movement, at which he held the position of Research and Strategy Commissioner for North America. He maintained a special interest in Environmental Health and carried on the legacy of strong environmental advocacy for environmental justice that he and his late wife cultivated together. Dr. Harper became a devoted member of Citizens for a Healthy and Safe Environment (CHASE) in 2009. He often spoke at county commission meetings, city council meetings, protests and rallies educating the community about the adverse health impacts of hazardous waste and toxic chemicals. He was elected to the position of Vice-President of CHASE on August 12, 2022.
Darren Shomari was a dedicated husband, father, brother and grandfather, a loyal and devoted friend and a strong advocate for causes that support the Black community and the African diaspora. Being an example of a strong Black family unit was one of his lifelong passions. He was a strong supporter of his late wife especially throughout the latter part of her life. He was charismatic, jovial and a strong supporter of all who knew him. He had a way of making all in the community feel welcome and valued.
Dr. Harper was preceded in death by his wife Janice Teheera Nichols Harper, his father Leroy Harper and his parents-in-law Rufus and Janet Nichols. He leaves to celebrate his living legacy, his beloved children Nia, Kamau and Malik, his 91 year old mother, Althea Harper, for whom he served as a dedicated caregiver until the end of his life. His older brother Dennis Harper, his younger brother, who is jokingly referred to as his twin because of their lifelong closeness, Dr. Brian Harper (Penni). His brothers-in-law, Dr. Ronald (Sati) Nichols, Rev. Dr. Reginald (Vanessa) Nichols and Roy Nichols. His cherished grandchildren Jalen, Zenzele, Manelin, Naade, Mansa, Asante-Taheera and Mandel. Neices and nephews (Averi, Omari, Russell, Troy, Ryan, Therren, Aaron, Austin, Lauren, Yejide, Aliyiah) and a host of Aunts, Uncles, cousins, godchildren and friends.