In Search of Freedom

Belgian-Congolese filmmaker, Nganji Laeh, along with musician and composer Badi and filmmaker Monique Mbeka Phoba, explore present day DRC via film.

Photo: Nganji Laeh.

I’ve been filming a monthly video journal in the Democratic Republic of Congo, offering a glimpse of my quest in the motherland. The series is called “”in SEARCH of FREEDOM.”  I am working with other afro-european artists such as the musician and composer Badi and filmmaker Monique Mbeka Phoba.  (Monique’s output includes the 2007 documentary film, “Entre la coupe et l’élection” (Between the cup and the election), co-directed with Guy Kabeya Muya, on the Zaire national football team, the Leopards, in the 1974 World Cup. Zaire was the first sub-Saharan African team to play in the World Cup. Previously Egypt, in 1934, and Morocco had qualified for the World Cup.–Ed). Here are the  videos.

EDITION 01 : arriving in the capital Kinshasa and stunting on the road.

EDITION 02 : greeting the (he)art of a city to paint a better picture.

EDITION 03 : in the name of the mother, the daughters and holy grandma.

EDITION 04 : shooting a period film challenging colonial myths in Congo is not easy … but Monique did it.

NEXT EDITION: Coming up end of May 2014.

Further Reading

A power crisis

Andre De Ruyter, the former CEO of Eskom, has presented himself as a simple hero trying to save South Africa’s struggling power utility against corrupt forces. But this racially charged narrative is ultimately self-serving.

Cinematic universality

Fatou Cissé’s directorial debut meditates on the uncertain fate and importance of Malian cinema amidst the growing dismissiveness towards the humanities across the world.

The meanings of Heath Streak

Zimbabwean cricketing legend Heath Streak’s career mirrors many of the unresolved tensions of race and class in Zimbabwe. Yet few white Zimbabwean sporting figures are able to stir interest and conversation across the nation’s many divides.

Victorious

After winning Italy’s Serie A with Napoli, Victor Osimhen has cemented his claim to being Africa’s biggest footballing icon. But is the trend of individual stardom good for sports and politics?

The magic man

Chris Blackwell’s long-awaited autobiography shows him as a romantic rogue; a risk taker whose life compass has been an open mind and gift to hear and see slightly into the future.

How to think about colonialism

Contemporary approaches to the legacy of colonialism tend to narrowly emphasize political agency as the solution to Africa’s problems. But agency is configured through historically particular relations of which we are not sole authors.

More than just a flag

South Africa’s apartheid flag has been declared hate speech by a top court. But while courts are important and their judgments matter, racism is a long and internationally entrenched social phenomenon that cannot be undone via judicial processes.

Resistance is a continuous endeavor

For more than 75 years, Palestinians have organized for a liberated future. Today, as resistance against Israeli apartheid intensifies, unity and revolutionary optimism has become the main infrastructure of struggle.