another_congo_sample

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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.

market place

yesterday we went to the market near uncle dominic's house.
it was golden hour (about 17h) and made for good shooting.

we thought it might be better if natty did the shooting as it would draw a little less attention.we were quite the attraction.
these guys (pic below to the left) grind the grain which is used for fou fou, a grain staple. its fun to eat because you habitually manipulate it, forming it into balls to be dipped. kind of like clay.

Fr. Jose Mpundu, Natacha's uncle, faithful filmmaking collaboraterand potential blog contributor (SVP) is on the right. He, by his own admission, is not a son of fou fou ( fil de fou fou). He prefers huge helpings of rice.

since we were in the old neighborhood, we went to jose and nattys first home

this is really fun

SHOOTING PEOPLE

Every day is meeting participants and asking sometimes some really taboo questions for the congolese culture such as " why arn't you wearing your ring if you are married?"

One of the most interesting characteristic, is that people love talking. In fact debating and analysing the current political and social situation is almost a second nature.

We listen,as much as we can, and we hear some incredible stories.
People have a lot to say, and I never thought it would be that easy to get them to share their stories.

I am developping some new "listening" skills here, and i hope to be able to bring thm back with me to NYC!

Natacha

bribery

bribery, payola, the handshake with something inside...

a way of life here. there are plenty of justifications of course, the soldiers aren't paid enough, the central govt doesn't support basic services, people are forced to eke out a living any way they can etc etc.

but for an american like myself the system is very hard to get used to. there is no sign to tell you how much you have to give. each encounter is different, each negotiation unique. sometimes there isn't negotiation, you just hand over some money and hope its enough. most times its plenty.

as you might imagine this photo cost some money. i didn't participate in the negotiation as it was my first day in the country. the interchange was expertly handled by John Paul and Midjo (natacha's cousins) who laughed and chatted their way through a 10 minute conversation with a man in camoflage who sported some itty bitty sunglasses. a kalishnakov was attached to his white plastic chair with a piece of rope. eventually, after paying the proper respect, he welcomed us and our cameras to this quasi holy (there is a mauseleum like grave to complement the Leninesque statue of Kabila, the father) nationalist site.

i returned on sunday with natacha. the internet cafe was closed (the lebanese took the day off) and so we walked around Gombe (think upper east side with razor wire) and found ourselves close to the monument. so we went in. you have to leave your ID at the gate because they are afraid you might deface the statue. or because they want your money.

on the way out, we didn't offer to pay. and so they had to ask, "can you visit the house of M Bush and not pay?" well kind of. if you do pay, there is a sign that suggests how much you need to fork over. so i took out my wallet and gave the guy 850 congolese francs, about 1.50 american dollars. i apologized. there were four guys sitting there with guns. they looked hungry and i was afraid they would take it as an insult. thats really all i had, enough for about 45 minutes of internet connection. i said, "i am poor".

they laughed.

and said,"the poor ones are like him." gesturing over their shoulder at the statue. "in congo if you are alive, you are rich"

i said, "well i guess i am rich and poor at the same time. a living contradiction."

they laughed and wished us a good day.

gear

here is the production kit on the patio at aunt bernadettes house:

you need to have an extra bag for all the cables and fittings and doodads.

luckily i stuffed the top of my back pack with the first thing that was handy, plastic bags from B and H.

we fit nicely in the back of a toyota RAV landcruiser.

le fleuve

the river.

its a powerful presence here.

its pretty darn big.

its an international border. congo brazzaville is on the other side. its a huge source of wealth. hydro electricity generated from the river could power the entire country.

when we did this shoot with Francis, there were children playing in the river and children breaking rocks next to the river. there also appeared to be waves, which jose assured me were just rapids. but they looked surf like.

there is a delicacy served here which is kind of like cat-fish poached in a chili sauce. they serve it in a leaf. more on that later.

sounds good

we are using 2 sets of wireless mics and a boom mic occasionally. the sound is really good so far.

yesterday we were shooting a rapper named lexus legale. we went down to his recording studio and talked about congolese history, youth culture and the perils of being an artist. when the engineer turned on the ¨pro tools" recording system (something we use all the time in ny), the sound of the macintosh computer starting up brought me right back home. suddenly i was in a very familiar place. a dark, dank room designed for electronic gear and creativity.

then the power went out. this is kinshasa after all. this is a daily happening here and something that is very hard to get used to.

today we spoke with a senior manager in the state electricity provider. she is a writer not a rapper and is confident in the future of electricity service in Kinshasa.

makes for good contrast.

Punctuality

One thing you quickly realise after almost a month in the DRC is that time is not so realistic.

Actually it is never realistic. So now we say "congolistically how long is it going to take".

Today, our interviewer turned up late at the house,we were late for the shoot, she was late for work and noone seemed to worried about that so much what really was a subject of concern was weither or not the subject was dressed appropriately!

On wednesday we met with the minister of labour. The appoitment was at 4pm. The interviewer is reluctant to get there at 3:45pm, claiming that we're not going to be received before 5pm anyway. We argue. I win. We get there for 3:55pm. We seat in the waiting room til 6pm. He's happy he was right. No apology from either the receptionist nor the minister for being 2 hours late....

After almost 2 years in a land where the motto is " time is money", it is difficult to understand that here people literally don't give a damn about being on time. Now i know where I get it from.

It is a interesting characteristic, because, it makes things much relax in the end. Everyone knows that the roads are too bad to be there on time, cars are too old to be free from breaking down, poeple speak too much to make things brief and work is just too annoying to care about being on time.


This is it for today, I am too late for dinner


Natacha

ca va

c'est vrai.
french and a french keyboard. It is amazing how often you will speak a language you barely know when everyone around you is speaking said language.
we are here to make a film about the middle class in kinshasa.
is there one?
who are they?
what are they doing?
are they growing or shrinking?

so far we have been shooting:
inside the house of parliament,
in the university of kinshasa pathology lab,
the protestant university,
a fantastic downtown restaurant,
the home of a Mai Mai politician,
the 21 floor of an office building in downtown kinshasa, (with 1 very busy elevator)
at the side of the Congo River (which looks more like a lake with rapids)
and the gardens of various folks around town.

so far the hospitality has been overwhelming. the food fantastic and the roads... remember when you first road in that SUV and you thought you might like to try off road rally racing? well come to kinshasa. there are holes a plenty in these streets and you aren't expected to slow down when you drive through them. Fr. Jose Mpundu is a champion driver. we lost 2 side mirrors today just from the jostling.

check back.
tomorrow i'll try and post pictures.
a demain

D- day -2

Two days before the official start,


Still in Kisangani finishing workshop with teenagers, I can't wait to finally start the shooting.

So far, so good... the camera is not in the Congo yet, the participant not yet confirmed... but I feel positive about the whole thing (am I naive...?)


Natacha