The Kinshasa Portraits exhibition, comprising seven films, will be presented by Cinemateca Capitólio, in Porto Alegre, for two weeks, from May 16th to 28th. The French Embassy Cinematheque and the Institut Français are sponsors of the event. Tickets for the exhibition cost R$ 10.00.
The show presents a variety of stories from the inhabitants of Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, ranging from young electronic musicians to aspiring boxers, passing by singers who reconcile art with family responsibilities, gangs that claim territory through fashion, street art groups and relatives who fight for the rights of war victims. The portraits created in the films, whether fictional or documentary, illuminate the multifaceted reality of the country.
Among the seven films selected, there are contemporary fictions, such as Felicidade, directed by Alain Gomis, French-Senegalese, and Maki’la, debut feature by Congolese director Machérie Ekwa Bahango. There are also revealing documentaries such as Victoire Terminus and Sistème K, directed by Renaud Barret, and Path to Kinshasa, by Congolese filmmaker Dieudo Hamadi, who is a great revelation of the country’s cinema.
The selection also includes a restored copy of the classic African film Life is Beautiful, made in 1987 by Mweze Ngangura and Benoit Lamy, which focuses on the nightlife of Kinshasa. In addition, there is a special session of the documentary When We Were Kings, by Leon Gast, which narrates the famous event “The Rumble in the Jungle”, the fight between boxers George Foreman and Muhammad Ali, promoted by the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, who ruled the country between 1965 and 1997.
Programming – Portraits of Kinshasa
Tuesday the 16th
3 p.m. – System K
17h – Maki’la
7pm – Happiness
Wednesday the 17th
3pm – Drive to Kinshasa
5 p.m. – Victory Terminus
7 p.m. – System K
Thursday the 18th
3 p.m. – Victory Terminus
5pm – Drive to Kinshasa
7pm – Life is beautiful
Friday the 19th
15h – Maki’la
5pm – Happiness
Saturday, 20
Night of the Museums
Domingo, 21
3 p.m. – Victory Terminus
5 p.m. – Life is Beautiful
7pm – When We Were Kings
Tuesday the 23rd
3pm – Happiness
5:30 p.m. – System K
19:00 – Maki’la
Wednesday the 24th
3pm – Drive to Kinshasa
5 p.m. – Victory Terminus
Thursday the 25th
3 p.m. – System K
Friday the 26th
3 p.m. – Life is beautiful
Saturday the 27th
3pm – Drive to Kinshasa
Domingo, 28
3pm – Happiness
