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Rumba Rules, New Genealogies

David N. Bernatchez et Sammy Baloji / 2020 / 107 min. / Canada, Belgium, Democratic Republic of Congo / Lingala / SUBS FRENCH, ENGLISH

Synopsis

Permeating the daily life of one of the great orchestras of the current generation, Rumba Rules proposes an incursion into the arcanes of a monumental African music. Ya Mayi, Lumumba, Xéna La Guerrière, Pitchou Travolta, Alfred Solo, Soleil Patron and many others: nearly thirty artists feed the creative life of the Brigade Sarbati Orchestra. By entering the group and the city of Kinshasa, the film gets into the rumba as if it were penetrating a rootstock. Through studio work, rehearsals and concerts, different portraits offer a foray into the dynamics and stories of this highly acclaimed Congolese music. From local roots to the patrons from the diaspora, the voices of Rumba Rules polyphony are past and present.

Cast & Crew

Screenplay : David N. Bernatchez, Kiripi Katembo-Siku et Sammy Baloji
Cinematographer : Kiripi Katembo-Siku, David N. Bernatchez, Sammy Baloji et Nelson Makengo
Editor : David N. Bernatchez et Michel Giroux
Sound : Huitième Merveille, Dolet Malalu et Serge Makobo
Sound mix : Alexis Pilon-Gladu
Sound editor : Simon Gervais
Music : Brigade Sarbati Orchestra, Papa Wemba et Franco Luambo
Cast : Brigade Sarbati and his Orchestra
Production : PAYSDENVIE productions and Twenty Nine Studio & Production

Genre

Documentaire

Topics

Dance, Music

Trailer

Biography

David N. Bernatchez is a Quebec born filmmaker, writer and producer. As an anthropologist, he does multiply projects about Quebec memories, he has investigated the Congolese music scene since 2004. Whether they focus on music, sports or history, Bernatchez’s projects constantly explores social and narrative structures. His films, performances and lectures had been presented in various contexts and countries.

Sammy Baloji is a visual artist and photographer born in Lubumbashi (DR Congo). As a visual artist, Baloji juxtaposes photographic realities, combining past and present, the real and the ideal, to illicit glaring cultural and historical tensions. He explores architecture and the human body as traces of social history, sites of memory, and witnesses to operations of power. He has notably exhibited at the Venice Biennale (2015), Documenta 14 (2017), Musée Pompidou and Paris’ Grand Palais (2020).

Festivals

- 2020 -
In competition | IDFA - International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, Amsterdam

- 2021 -
In competition | DocPoint – Helsinki Documentary Film Festival, Finland
In competition | Thin Line Film Music Fest, USA
In competition | Montreal International Black Film Festival (MIBFF), Canada
In competition | Afrika FilmFest, The Netherlands
In competition | Festival panafricain du cinéma et de la télévision de Ouagadougou (FESPACO), Burkina Faso
In competition | De Cinéma M HKA, Belgium
In competition | Congo in Harlem, USA
In competition | WOMEX - World Music Expo, Portugal
In competition | AFRIKAMERA, Germany
In competition | CineOdyssey Film Festival, USA

- 2022 -

In competition | FAME - Festival international de films sur la musique, France

In competition | Vues d'Afrique, Canada

In competition | Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma, Canada

In competition | Festival d’Automne, France

In competition | Sundsvall Filmfest, Suède

In competition | Fespaco, Ouagadougou

In competition | Festival International du Cinéma Numérique de Cotonou, Bénin

In competition | FAME, France

In competition | Vues d’Afrique, Canada

In competition | Chambrall Film Fest, India

In competition | RVQC, Canada

In competition | German IEFF, Allemagne

In competition | Afropolis, Belgique

In competition | Ishango Encounters, Goma

In competition | Zanzibar International Film Festival, Tanzanie

In competition | See The Sound Cologne, Allemagne

In competition | Fiesta Sete, France

In competition | Afrykamera, Pologne

In competition | Southern Lights, Allemagne

Awards

Nomination | IRIS - Meilleur film documentaire : Rumba Rules réalisé par David N. Bernatchez et Sammy Baloji

Nomination | IRIS - Meilleure direction de la photographie film documentaire : Rumba Rules, Kiripi Katembo-Siku, David N. Bernatchez et Sammy Baloji

Nomination | IRIS - Meilleur son film documentaire : Rumba Rules, Alexis Pilon-Gladu et Simon Gervais

Photos

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