Rêve Bokoluka
Dir. Jay Safari
DR Congo, 2015, 10 min.
French & Lingala w/ English subtitles

In Kinshasa, a Congolese street musician struggles to survive.

Followed by:

Rêve Kakudji
Dir. Ibbe Daniels & Koen Vidal
Belgium, 2013, 62 min.
French, English, Italian & Swahili w/ English subtitles

Serge Kakudji is a twenty-year-old Congolese counter tenor who fell in love with opera as a young boy, listening to audiotapes of opera recordings in his room in Lubumbashi. Later he traveled to Europe to achieve his dream of becoming a top opera singer. Although Serge's artistic ambitions are pure and uncomplicated, the reactions among his environment and audiences are often ambiguous and divided. While some people respect and acknowledge his artistic vocation, others see him as an exotic oddity, or complain that that his African timbre jars with classical opera. Serge refuses to be discouraged by any of this. On the contrary, he wants to hold up a mirror to Western culture and confront it with its underlying beliefs. He also wants to use his story and experiences in the west to bring opera to Congo. Together with his countrymen and women, he wants to found a Congolese opera tradition based on African stories that will inspire people to follow their dreams.

Filmmakers:

Documentary is Ibbe Daniëls’ great passion. She has made several documentary films for the Flemish broadcasting company Canvas, including Belpop, a series about the relationship between celebrities and their mothers. Futur Simple, a short film about the dreams and wishes of Congolese children, was her first collaboration with Koen Vidal. Ibbe has also directed commercials and music videos.

Koen Vidal is the foreign editor of the Belgian newspaper 'De Morgen' and coördinator of a weekly supplement on investigative journalism and 'grand reportages'. He is also the author of several books on Africa and migration issues. His book, Futur Simple, describes the lives of seven Congolese children and their struggle for a better future. The book inspired a short film and was the first collaboration with the young opera singer Serge Kakudji. Vidal is also a professor/lecturer at the Erasmus School for Journalism, Brussels.

RETURN TO FULL SCHEDULE