Features

Kinshasa Makambo

Dieudo Hamadi
DR, Kongo, FRA, CH, DEU, NO, Katar 2018
75 min
V'18

Hamadi folgt den Spuren dreier junger Aktivisten durch das Chaos eines gesellschaftlichen Auflösungsprozesses im urbanen Dschungel von Kinshasa. Die Unzufriedenheit mit dem Regime des Präsidenten Joseph Kabila lässt immer wieder Gewalt aufackern. Stellenweise wirkt KINSHASA MAKAMBO wie eine Wanderung durch den 7. Kreis der Hölle: heruntergekommene Niemandszonen, wo sich der Unrat stapelt, rauchende Autowracks, brennende Müll tonnen. Und dazu die bürgerkriegsähnlichen Eskalationen, die von einer nervös ruckelnden Kamera als entfesselter Bildertaumel dokumentiert werden. Was der Film bewirken will, macht der Titel klar: Makambo heißt Kopfschmerz. Und ja, Kopfzerbrechen bereitet er. (Thomas Mießgang)

 

This committed, eye-witness, essentially cinéma-vérité work of documentary reportage follows the unfolding events in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during a period in 2016 and 2017 when Joseph Kabila refused to stand down as President, and the people’s hero Étienne Tshisekedi returned at age 85, trying without success, until his death, to open negotiations with Kabila. In particular, the film traces the daily lives and militant activities of three engagé men: Christian, Ben and Jean-Marie. Dieudo Hamadi films from the heart of the citizens’ movements to which he belongs in the DRC. He captures his friends in earnest political discussions; he runs with them down the street to avoid the bullets and tear gas aimed at them by police; he shares the precious moments of comradely joy and friendly intimacy. Hamadi’s account does not erase the painful difficulties of this (or any) revolutionary struggle: prison, torture, death and the strain placed on family relations are ever-present. At the core of it all is the eternally burning question: is violence, when wielded by an oppressed population, a morally righteous weapon to combat a state government apparatus that is itself violent? (Adrian Martin)

Credits
  • Ben
  • Christian
  • Jean-Marie
  • Dieudo Hamadi
  • Dieudo Hamadi
  • Christian L.L.
  • Dieudo Hamadi
  • Hélène Ballis
DCP
col
Related Movies