Kongo lives in the Matonge district of Brussels, where he is writing a book. His editor wants a kind of traveler's book spiced with ethnic ingredients. However, Kongo is inspired by his vision of complex and tormented souls that he meets at all proverbial and literal crossings. His story, and the film's narrative, follow invisible trajectories intertwined with Congolese history and Belgium's ghosts.

A humorous and super-clever social commentary on... exile and migration? Belgian colonialism? racism in Europe? the psychology of the colonized? of the decolonized? of the comprador bourgeoisie?
Kongo lives in Brussels, in the'Matonge' district on which he is writing a book. His editor wants a kind of traveler's book spiced with ethnic ingredients. However, the writer is inspired by the vision of complex and tormented souls that he meets at all crossings. Kongo Congo follows invisible ways connected to the Congolese history and its ghosts. How is it possible to stand upright in this chaotic history ? By having the "juju", self-confidence, and Beatrice's love.
Linear as a moebius strip, Juju Factory is full of references both implicit and explicit, right down to its name - as another reviewed has pointed out, a "juju" is a talisman or charm which can protect one from evil... but in French "juju" sounds like'jouet', a mere toy... Dreamy sequences and symbolic conversations all flesh out what eventually appear less as relationships between characters as between what Frantz Fanon might have called "species". At the same time, hints appear that the book he is writing is in fact the film we are watching... and as Joseph Désiré becomes increasingly rigid and demanding, insisting on a prettified advertisement about ethnic color in Belgium's capital, Congo becomes increasingly haunted by thoughts of Patrice Lumumba and the history of European theft and pillage on the African continent.

Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda, Democratic Republic of Congo, 2006, 97m. In French.
Genre: Drama/Comedy


PRIX / FESTIVALS / AWARDS / DISTINCTIONS / TELEVISIONS


2008 | SIFF - Seattle Film Festival | SEATTLE, Usa | www.siff.net
* OFFICIAL SELECTION
* Contemporary World Cinema


2008 | 15th New York African Film Festival | NEW YORK, Usa | APRIL 9th to MAY 26th | www.africanfilmny.org |
> Selection


2007 | Festival Cinema Africano, Bari. Italy. December 2007 |
> BEST ACTRICE (Carole Karemera as Béatrice)


2007 | African Film Festival at Apt, France. November 2007 |
> BEST FILM


2007 | Kenya International Film Festival, Kenya. October 2007 |
> BEST FILM

2007 | Africa in Motion | EDINBURGH, Scottland | www.africa-in-motion.org.uk
* Selection


2007 | ZANZIBAR INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL | ZANZIBAR, Tanzania | 17th july 2007 |
> GOLDEN DHOW AWARD BEST FILM


2007 | INNSBRUCK INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL | INNSBRUCK, Austria | 10th june 2007 |
> LAND OF TYROL BEST FILM


2007 | FESPACO 2007 | OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso | www.fespaco.fr |
> Compétition Officielle
> World Premiere

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DEUTSCH
Der Schriftsteller Kongo Congo lebt in Matonge, dem afrikanischen Viertel von Brüssel. Er hat den Auftrag, ein Buch über die kongolesische Diaspora zu schreiben und gerät dabei in einen Konflikt: Dem Verleger schwebt ein ethnologischer Roman und Reiseführer vor, der vor allem gut verkäuflich sein soll. Doch dazu ist Kongo nicht bereit. Er will das Leben der Afrikaner in Matonge realistisch und kritisch darstellen.

regie: balufu bakupa-kanyinda B/KON 2006 90 min OmeU

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ITALIANO
Kongo Congo è uno scrittore africano residente a Bruxelles, nel quartiere'Matonga'. Vive in mezzo agli immigrati, tra le diverse esperienze di esilio e di sradicamento dalla propria terra natale. Il suo editore Joseph D. lo incarica di scrivere un libro sulla comunità congolese, una sorta di guida turistica che possa soddisfare il maggior numero possibile di lettori, senza soffermarsi troppo sugli aspetti storico-politici dell'Africa. Ma Kongo sente la necessità di dare voce a quell'Africa nascosta, quella di cui non si parla mai. Di fronte alle difficoltà economiche, cederà ai ricatti del padrone o deciderà di scrivere il'suo' romanzo?

Bakupa-Kanyinda spinge la cinepresa ad esplorare l'intimità di un'artista, i suoi dubbi, le sue crisi; realizzando un film che ha convinto la critica internazionale. Con questo lavoro infatti, ha vinto nel 2007 i festival di Zanzibar e di Innsbruck.

R. D. Congo - 2006
Regia: Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda
Interpreti: Dieudonné Kabongo, Carole Karemera, Katik Bakomba, Leta Manesa.
Durata: 97'