We are back in Kinshasa

We are back in Kinshasa and we've posted some photos on facebook. 

the link is below:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=63912&l=8b054aab9a&id=37998374626

DRC is always full of surprises and we've learnt it the hard way this time around. A trip that was suppose to be full of new material ended up being not so fruitful. After a a heavy storm that got us stuck in JFK for 6 hours, a passport lost, a credit card that ended up being worthless in Goma, malaria for the two of us and another delayed flight we finally made it back to New York City with literally no footage from the film. So of course this has been very disappointing in many ways. Moral of the story is while in Congo one has to leave room for the unexpected and accept the unexpected without resisting.

Although we got no footage for Tales from Kin, we still had an opportunity to film some interesting programs run by UNICEF in eastern DRC and got reminded that though the focus of our documentary is the middle class, many congolese are still struggling to get by, living under despicable conditions and that a bright future is nowhere near.

Back in New York now, the main goal is to cut a 15 min trailer of the over 100 hours of tapes that we have. Plan another trip to Congo, this time for much longer. This time with maybe less overconfidence.

N

Bonne Nouvelles

2 months in 2008 , a lot of work, transcribing from English to French to the point that I don't even know which language I speak sometimes, exhaustion, frustrations...etc... but there's a good news, and the good news is the project is still on and is going towards the right direction.

The city's pace is hard to keep up with, intense and awfully stressing at times, that is part of the reason why we didn't post messages for a while. But here we are again, with a newly acquired laptop, a lot of free internet at home, with more information, experience and stories to share we'll be able to keep up the update of the blog. 

The trailer is done, and will be "bientot sur vos ecrans". A new website is in construction, we're expecting delivery soon. NYFA has "endorsed" our project... And another trip to get more stories. Departure is scheduled for April 1st. I am rather impatient to get away from the big apple and head to good old Europe for a month of shooting, from London to Paris through Brussels following our participants wherever they go. And hopefully we'll be in Kinshasa in June to capture that independence day buzz that happens every year since the 1960's. 

But for now we have one month to feed you with everything that has happened since we got back from Kinshasa.

Thank you for reading...keep reading...there will be more.

another_congo_sample

Click to Play

this is a sample of some of the interviews we shot.

quiet

this photo was taken on our last day in kinshasa 30 august 2007.
we shot in makala, a neighborhood in Kinshasa where SNEL, the state electricity provider, was turning on the juice.
i was quite a novelty there. every resident under the age of 12 thought that i should be shooting them. people tried to get my attention by calling me "EMIINEM". it was a very intense experience. much different than the other places we had been.

when we were done, we hopped back in the truck and went to the airport. within 4 hours we were in the loving embrace of Air France. Unlimited beverages, Spider man 3 and a special insecticide treatment. Another 14 hours later, we were back in NY. Customs didn't even bat an eyelash at my DRC tourist visa or the 31 hours of video tape in my bag. The bags arrived and soon enough we were in a taxi with a new interactive LCD screen for passenger use. the weather in NY was almost exactly the same as Kinshasa. Overcast, humid and hot. But when we got off North Conduit Blvd. and turned onto Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn, it felt very different.

Quiet.
Nobody on the streets. Roads that didn't make the axles buckle. Stoplights. Other drivers passed, their windows rolled up. Isolated.

I'm enjoying the return. Out for croissants at 7:00 am on saturday morning. A filmmaker was projecting his doc on North African hip-hop on the side of a building in Ft. Greene last night. I swam in the Atlantic Ocean yesterday and rode waves. Its nice to be home, on Labor Day weekend, in the sunshine, with friends.

But the Five Boroughs, a place I once thoght of as loud, wonderful and out of control, now feels a little tame. I am looking forward to getting back to Kinshasa.

End and Beginning

Thursday 30th of August, last day of shooting and last day in Kinshasa.

I had a sense of relief that the project was finally done, that i was on my way back home, and that i wouldn't have to bribe anyone for a long while. Well, things didn't go as smoothly as i thought they would... My visa was expired. So of course the lady behind the immigration desk took that opportunity to mention that if only I was congolese I would be fine, but since i'm not I have to pay $135 to get back to my country. I started speaking in lingala, tried using my smile hoping that i would be able to convince her to let me go without a fine. Did not work. She said: " How much can you give?" Unfortunatelly all I had was a $100 note and asking for change wasn't an option. She pocketted the money.

14 hours later I am in New York city and all I can think about is how quiet and clean it is. Even East New York seemed very nice and pretty to my eyes. Tired but happy to be back to my somehow safe and comfortable apartment, I start looking through the pictures and this one with my uncle Dominique and aunt Bernadette, probably captures quite well how I was while over there (i.e: well taken care of). I am already missing the housekeepers, the beakfast already made for you, the way the cook would ask me what i wanted to eat for lunch, the nicely folded clean clothes on my bed every night, the pool ( even thought it had mosquitos flying over it most of the time) and of course, being around my family and feeling so much love and attention from them.


Now, phase number two of our work has started.It will basically look like this: sorting out footage, deciding, arguing, editing and going back again to Kinshasa, hopefully soon.

I guess now will be the time to reveal a little bit more about the stories that we've capture, people that we've met and how eveything is going to look like. Keep reading, even though we're not in Dear Congo anymore, the adventures are not over yet.

mentalities

this sign is everywhere, in lingala and french. its the slogan of the new era.

if you ask most people, its just a slogan. but there is something nice about governmental recognition of change.

of course its not so much about changing or improving the existing infrastructure, its more focused on building a positive mental attitude. i guess you got to start somewhere.

we have also adopted it as an ironic comment. it is kind of similar to the way my friends and i used "axis of evil" and "evildoer" after george bush mentioned it in a speech. after being held up again, waiting for another late arriving interview or having to wait while a bribe is processed, its a healthy refrain : "changment des mentalities". changment my dirty socks. jose yelled it to a soldier who was unfairly picking on a taxi driver. i guess sometimes i say it to myself, to change my expectations. c'est bon.

we leave tomorrow. this may be the last post from kinshasa. i am looking forward to coming back.