Documentary Educational Resources - Geography / Africa / Democratic Republic of the Congo / All Films

The Mbako Trial

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 12:17:53 GMT

The film begins in the north-east of the Belgian Congo in 1933. Following reports of mysterious deaths in the region over several years, the Belgian colonial authorities arrest and put on trial a group of men suspected of belonging to the Mambela sect and of being responsible for these deaths as Aniotos, men who kill like leopards. Among them is Mbako, ritual chief and presumed leader of the Aniotos or leopard men. As the film progresses, the role of the accused is reversed and the colonizers' disregard for traditional customary law, social structures and traditional leaders and chiefs, as well as their devastating impact on local traditions, are scrutinized.

The pioneer of African animation, Congolese stop-motion animator J-M Kibushi takes the Western imagination of the Anioto as a starting point for revisiting this episode in the history of today's Democratic Republic of Congo, challenging the racist and dehumanizing interpretation of the colonizers and the portrayal of leopard men as the ‘savage Other’. The Mbako Trial: Myth and Reality presents a post-colonial reinterpretation of the hearings and trial through animations, illustrations, a diorama, theatrical reconstructions, archive documents and interviews.

SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS

FestIFIS Films Identitaires et solidaires à Nikki, Bénin, 2024

Millenium à Bruxelles, Belgium, 2024

Festival Mundial de Cine à Veracruz, Mexico, 2023

GZDOC/Guangzhou Int'l Documentary Film Festival, China, 2023

Luanda PAFF/Int'l Pan African Film Festival à Luanda, Angola, 2023

Kasseler Dok Fest à Kassel, Germany, 2023

Congo in Harlem, New York, 2023

Vues d'Afrique à Montréal, Canada, 2023

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Elephant's Dream

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 07:05:00 GMT

Elephant's Dream
Buy Now: $320.00

Elephant's Dream is a portrait of three state-owned institutions and their workers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The interwoven stories of a female clerk in the dilapidated central post office, two colleagues at the railway station, and the group of firemen in the only fire station provide insight into their daily lives and survival in Kinshasa, the third largest city of Africa. Although these three government-owned institutions are running on their last legs, the film allows for a surprisingly poetic and empathetic look at a state in decline. Yet, it also bears witness to small but powerful moments of change and revolution, while at the same time functioning as a mirror to what is happening in the Western world.

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Jean-Michel Kibushi: Palabres Animées du Griot

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 11:12:00 GMT

Jean-Michel Kibushi: Palabres Animées du Griot
Buy Now: $320.00

Jean-Michel Kibushi Ndjate Wooto (also known as Kibushi Ndjate Wooto and Jean-Michel Kibushi) is a pioneer of African animation, and is widely considered to be the first Congolese animator. This compilation DVD brings together five of his best-known works from 1991 to 2004.

While all use stop motion animation, Kibushi draws widely on materials -- from jointed paper cutouts, to clay, to puppetry to children's drawings -- set against elaborate backgrounds to convey poignant social and political messages. Whether offering traditional wisdom or political critiques, these animated films capture the spirit and culture of the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A fine introduction to a major voice in African animation...Recommended.
–Video Librarian

The compilation includes:

The Toad Visits His In-Laws (Le Crapaud Chez Ses Beaux-Parents)
color, 8 min, 1991

Based on a Tetela fable, this short film tells how the fight over the only spoon between toad and his friends ruins the feast for all.

The White Orange
color, 14 min, 1992

In part two of The Toad Visits His In-Laws the Toad's wife seeks the Sage's wisdom to restore order and bring back her husband and friends.

Kinshasa, Black September
black and white, 7 min, 1992

Kibushi uses children's drawings as the visuals in this "animated documentary" portraying the violent 1991 coup in the DR Congo's capital city.

Muana Mboka
color, 14 min, 1999

This film presents a devastating portrait of a society rife with corruption, as experienced by a young boy in Kinshasa trying to survive.

Prince Loseno
color, 29 min, 2004

This short film utilizes intricate clay animation to tell of King Ngolo, who is without a male heir. Jealousies among his three wives and with his first love -- now the court witch doctor -- thwart the birth of a successor. Finally blessed with a male heir, the king dies during the Prince's coronation; "Birth and death are twins in the destiny of man," concludes the narrator-griot.

SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS

Jury Prize: Prize of the City of St. George Didonne, Festival Plein Sud, France, 2005 (Prince Loseno)

Special Mention Short Film Jury, FESPACO, Burkina Faso, 2005 (Prince Loseno)

Film Award of Hope COE, FESPACO, Burkina Faso, 2005 (Prince Loseno)

SIGNIS Jury Special Mention, Festival of Milano, Italy, 2005

Grand of the French Community - Short Film, Int'l Film Festival of Brussels, Belgium, 2000 (Muana Mboka)

Public Award of Commons Royannais, Festival Plein Sud, France, 2000 (Muana Mboka)

Best Reportage "Animated Political Documentary Film", Cameras Youth, Belgium, 1994 (Septembre Noir)

First Prize Short Film, Int'l Festival of Fribourg, Switzerland, 1992 (Le Crapaud)

FICAM, Morocco, 2006 (Prince Loseno)

Rencontres Internationales du Cinéma d'Animation de Wissembourg, France, 2006 (Prince Loseno)

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