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Felicite (Democratic Republic of Congo) – A Champion of Creativity

Felicite Film Difficulty Ranking: 4

Want to truly get involved in a film? In Felicite you are given the story-line and a bit of character development before you are almost left to your own devices. Like the great works of literature, you’ll have to add your own interpretations to draw your own conclusions. Also, there’s one thing that this film has over the great works of literature: the music!

Why Watch Felicite?
  • If you like music. The Kasai Allstars are all over this film!
  • To experience the chaos of Kinshasa
  • To take part in the film making process – like in the best pieces of literature, you’ll get to add your own interpretations
  • Come on, how many opportunities do you get to watch great film from the DRC?
The Breakdown

The film starts with Beya singing in a dusty bar in Kinshasa. The bar is small, the lighting is dim, and locals are clustered around tables drinking and catching up. As the locals drink and chat Beya puts crams everything into her voice. It’s like she’s trying everything to get everyone’s attention, to stand out in chaotic bar in a chaotic city.

Music is the driving force of Felicite. There’s the expressive, more free form music of the Kasai Allstars and Beya, and the structured symphony orchestra. The structured orchestral music signifies the moments of our lives that we cannot control: fate. It appears when Beya’s son is hospitalised and for other events out of her control. In contrast, the bluesy music of the Kasai Allstars signifies Beya’s response to fate. The melancholic emotion she puts into her singing is her acceptance of her fate and inability to control it.

The film is split into two parts. The first part is told in a classical format that all of us brought up on Hollywood films would recognise. You learn a bit about Beya, then her son is hospitalised, so she has to try and find money to pay for the treatment. It’s pretty familiar storytelling. In contrast, the second part is a lot more artistic and subjective. There’s some visions and dreams mixed into all the music. Unlike in part one where we can just accept what is shown to us, in part two we have to actively engage with the film and construct our own interpretations.

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Conclusion

Felicite is a work of art. Not in the sense that all movies are works of art, but in the sense that it pushes the boundaries of film. It is a champion of creativity, and uses music, and art (through the visions and dreams) to create a much more unique film. Best of all, unlike a lot of films, you are expected to take part in the film making process and add your own meaning.

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Batuque (Cape Verde) – Hear the Music that Defines a Nation

Batuque Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

Do you want to go to Cape Verde? Whilst you won’t see the lush beaches in this film, you’ll hear the sounds and soul of the island. Plus you’ll have an amazing Batuque band to tour you around! For a trip to Cape Verde for the price of lunch, watch this film here (Amazon).

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Why Watch Batuque?
  • It’s the best way to experience Cape Verde without paying for a flight
  • If you love music
  • To learn about Cape Verdean history
  • Meet some of Batuque’s biggest stars
The Breakdown

The film starts with a Batuque band called Raiz di Tambarina playing at a local wedding. All the band members are dressed in white for the occasion and sit in an almost complete circle with a dancer in the middle. They keep the percussion and the vocals going whilst the lead vocalist (hidden in the circle) leads them in their call and response style singing.

As you’ll see, Batuque is alive and well in Cape Verde. However, it’s had a troubled history. Under colonial times in the 1800s the Portuguese attempted to eradicate all forms of black culture. As a result, Batuque was outlawed so ‘honest hardworking folk would not be misled.’ These backwards laws weren’t overruled until the 1970s when independence was finally granted. Raiz di Tambarina (the band in the film) are an example of how intertwined the genre is with Cape Verdean culture. The band, like many of the Batuque stars today, started whilst under prohibition, and like the genre, have outlived it’s persecution.

In addition to the music and history of Batuque, this documentary also shows us life in Cape Verde by following the band members as they go about their day jobs. One of them buys fish from the port to sell inland whilst another is a truck driver. At one point in the film, whilst at the fish market, a group forms spontaneously and starts singing and drumming Batuque with anything ready to hand. The spontaneity shows how ingrained Batuque is into the culture of Cape Verde. It has survived slavery and colonisation and is now a celebrated part of Cape Verde.

Conclusion & What to Watch Next

Batuque is more than a film about Batuque music. Instead, it uses Batuque music to tell the story of Cape Verde: it’s history, people, and culture. You’ll hear the music that defines the nation, before you meet the people behind it and follow them at their ‘day-jobs’. Batuque is an arm-chair traveler’s guide to Cape Verde.

For another musical exploration, go visit the sound of the Democratic Republic of Congo courtesy of the Kasai Allstars. It took home the Best Picture at the African film awards in 2017 and won the Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival. Read more here and go watch it here (Amazon).

Or, if you’re interested in seeing more creative ways of telling the history of a nation, check out The Missing Picture. It tells the story of a Cambodian family looking for a missing picture of their relative lost in the Cambodian genocide. Read more here or go watch it here (Amazon).