Republic of Congo

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Sunday in Brazzaville – Meet Some of the Capital’s Artists

Sunday in Brazzaville

Sunday in Brazzaville Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

Why Watch Sunday in Brazzaville?

  • See documentary of an African country that doesn’t focus on poverty or war
  • Meet 3 of the capital’s artists
  • To see how some of the Republic of Congo’s residents get down
From: Republic of Congo, Africa
Watch: IMDb, JustWatch, Tubi, Hoopla
Next: System K, Burkina Rising, Night of Calypso

50 years after colonialism, Sunday in Brazzaville takes a look at three artists contributing to contemporary Congolese culture in the former capital of Free France. Each of them reforms influences from the West into cultures that are uniquely Congolese.

The three artists in profile represent three different parts of culture:

  1. The Fashion orientated Sapeurs – a group of men and women that live by a gentlemanly code and dress in bright suits. Their code of conduct rules that they must show good manners, be elegant, and always well dressed – deriving their characteristics from wealthy upper class Frenchmen. They’re surprisingly proud of their French heritage, but also sport brightly colored suits that feel uniquely Congolese.
  2. The wrestler representing sport and entertainment. This wrestling has much more in common with the WWE in the U.S. than the greco-Roman wrestling you’ll see at the Olympics. It’s more focused on the spectacle than strength. The wrestler profiled, like the Sapeurs, mixes Congolese elements into the U.S. style wrestling, with magic and live animals becoming his secret weapons.
  3. Lastly there’s our musician, a rapper uncovering life in Brazzaville in his rhymes. Like the Sapeurs and the wrestler, he has been influenced by culture from the West (in this case rap music from the U.S.) and adapted it to depict contemporary Congolese life.

Each of the three artists in Sunday in Brazzaville represent contemporary Congolese culture with all of them adapting elements of Western art for Congolese audiences to give a quick overview of life in Brazzaville. The only thing that would have been nice to see is more of a gender balance in the subjects as the characters profiled are all male.

What to Watch Next

Sunday in Brazzaville is a western made African documentary that doesn’t focus on the exploitative thematic trio of poverty, conflict, and AIDS. Narrated by a Congolese radio host, it reminded me a bit of PRI’s informative and diverse Afropop Worldwide podcast series which looks at a wide range of African music around the world. It also reminded me of some of the vibrant and colorful documentaries coming out of the Republic of Congo’s neighbor the DRC such as System K and Zombies. Or if you’re looking for more overviews of one country’s culture, check out Burkina Rising and Night of Calypso.