Films catalogue

Rumba Rules, New Genealogies
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
Topics
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 -
Awards
- 2022 -
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
Best Documentary audience Award, Afrykamera (Pologne)