After many years as a colonist in Africa, Mr. Van Hansen returns to Europe. But he suffers from recurring nightmares: he is haunted by the ghost of the medicine man whom he diddled out of his cult objects … A critical look at Belgian colonialism and the robbery of Congolese art by the colonists.

Ndoko, a hard-headed little girl, has disobeyed her mother once again. Then she learns that her baby brother has been abducted by a cannibal monster. Ndoko leaves to save the poor thing … An ethical story set in a pre-colonial Africa.

What are the consequences of a combination of uncivil behaviour and the poor condition of the roads for emergency medical treatments? A heroic ambulance tries to find an answer to that question. A film about the absence of police in the streets of Kinshasa.

The exceptional struggle of a mother fighting to preserve and protect her newborn baby. She will have to brave dangers of all kinds summoned by nature and evil spirits. This film by two new talents from Congo was produced with next to no budget.

Einst verzauberten afrikanische Klänge den Alltag am Flussufer. Die Hommage von Frank Mukunday und Trésor Tshibangu Tshamala an ihre Stadt Lubumbashi entfaltet sich zu einer kritischen Reise und offenbart die fatalen Zusammenhänge der Weltökonomie. Auch wir im Norden spielen eine gewisse Rolle, wie die Schlusspointe aufrüttelnd anprangert. Mit recycelten rostigen Materialien, Steinen und Kreide positioniert sich das kongeniale Duo und widersetzt sich dem „Schwarzmarkt der Geschichte“ inhaltlich wie formal.

Nadja Rademacher

“Lord, give me a diploma!” are the not so silent prayers of Congolese high school students just before their final exams. Instead of the Mercedes Benz of Janis Joplin’s American version a graduation diploma is considered to be the key to happiness. Getting it, however, is nothing short of a miracle, because the school system is part of the institutionalised corruption: if you can’t pay the “teachers’ fee”, you’re expelled.
A group of students in Kisangani, however, refuse to put up with this any longer – among them Joël, who can’t scrape the necessary money together even though he works hard every day carrying crates on the market. They take the initiative and move into an empty house to prepare for the exams, self-organised and with the aid of “little tricks”. They have two months left, two months in which they will live, discuss, pray and sing together.
Dieudo Hamadi manages to be always at the centre of things with his camera and to show the group’s dynamics from inside. His tale of the fragile democracy in the Congo is told not with resignation but with a touch of utopia that makes real democratic participation seem possible – and with an explosive finale. You’ve never seen a real graduation party until you’ve seen this film, though he doesn’t conceal either that the students don’t escape the logic of the system after all.
Lars Meyer

Everyone has their own typical walk. Through the eyes of a small shoeshine boy we see people passing by and future clients showing off their footgear.