Veteran Congolese documentary filmmaker Dieudo Hamadi’s previous work has confronted, through the telling of individual stories, the challenges and complexities of the troubled, turbulent life of his nation. In Downstream to Kinshasa, Hamadi follows a group of victims of his country’s Six-Day War in the year 2000 who are seeking reparations from the government. In that year Kisangani, a northeastern city on the Congo River, descended into chaos as Rwandan and Ugandan forces clashed in a conflict that was part of the larger and more catastrophic Second Congo War. Now, two decades later, those who survived the inferno are still fighting for some kind of acknowledgement and reparations for what they endured. These extraordinary people, telling their tales through musical theatre, are traveling down the River to the capital, and Hamadi’s remarkable film is an intimate chronicle of their momentous journey.

Film selected by Aboubakar Sanogo

Screening

Tuesday, March 16 - Wednesday, March 17