Congo Rising Welcomes You

With offices in the USA and in the DR-Congo, we are preparing for the future by powering the imagination, especially film.

What we are Doing

Building the Cinema Industry
Establishing power sources to facilitate internet access and file exportation

Supporting Entrepreneurships, especially for women and for filmmakers who need an income while they learn their craft

Providing sustainable solar energy to rural areas of the Congo to extend educational opportunities to the most vulnerable

There were cinemas in the Congo in the 1980s, but all have failed. We are building affordable cinemas, open air and enclosed, so that the Congolese can share their own stories. Our goal is to catalyze the industry with training and up-to-date equipment, and ultimately with a film studio and a university. In this way, we will support the Congolese as they rehabilitate the reputation of the Congo. In a few years, we want the DR-Congo to be regarded as a center of excellent film rather than a center of violence.
We also work with a university in Lodja, DRC to support education and outreach.

Tshoper with his parents at the premiere

Kinshasa:
We work with pioneering filmmakers in the DR-Congo to restore cinema to the country. (It was lost thirty years ago.)

We have partnered with Bimpa Production in Kinshasa. With them, we have released two successful feature films.

The Journey

Bimpa Production started with four people in Kinshasa. They began making short films and producing each other's work. Soon, they established a film festival. (In 2020, it had its 7th edition.)

For years, they met weekly according to the schedule of when electricity would be available to power their laptops and phones. Things have improved greatly, but we aim to make power accessible, reliable and expandable.

Meetings were once scheduled according to the availability of electricity.

Today, Bimpa is ready.

Solar Power to the People

The need is the same for filmmakers in Kinshasa and educators in Lodja: RELIABLE, SUSTAINABLE POWER

In order for the film industry to grow, filmmakers must be able to access sustainable energy. Using solar technology, we work with Bimpa Production. We also work in Lumumba's home province (Sankuru) to make education accessible for the poorest villagers.

Life Stories to Create Libraries

Book binding

report of summer 2018 book making at UST

Focused especially on women, this initiative can be undertaken even before reliable energy is procured

Book binding can be done with cardboard, fabric, and glue, all of which are readily available.

We have created books using African Storybooks templates and have translated three of the ASB books into Tetela.

Printing books using African Storybooks requires printers and ink, but is easy to do. We can bind hand-written life stories, but they are more legible if they're digitized and printed.

From simple to complex book binding

Simple book creation can be done within minutes. More complex book creation takes about a half hour.

Aselu Celestine shows her book

This book by and about Celestine Aselu has inspired a film, which is in production.

Film Festival 2020

For the visibility and emergence of cinema in the Congo

Attended by the minister of tourism, the 7th edition of the Festival International de Cinema de Kinshasa showed how film can set an ambitious trajectory for the future.

Let us introduce you to our country.

fickin 2020 tshoper with minister of tou

7th Edition: Film Festival

TABU INANGOY, Minster of Culture

How Film Can Prepare the Future

"Le peuple Congolais a montré à travers vos œuvres sa maturité et sa capacité de création, de mobilisation et d’organisation. Vous êtes indéniablement et définitivement les artisans de la réussite exceptionnelle de cette manifestation unique dans les annales du cinéma congolais et dans le développement économique de la ville province de Kinshasa….

C’est avec honneur que je participe à cette cérémonie de clôture de la 7ème édition du Festival International de Cinéma de Kinshasa qui a contribué sans aucun doute à rendre notre culture encore plus connue, tonifié, robuste et compétitive dans ce monde qui se globalise à pas des géants ; et je souhaite vous retrouver très prochainement à la 8ème édition."

Que vive la République Démocratique du Congo

Que vive la ville de Kinshasa

Que vive la culture congolaise

Que vive le Festival International de Cinéma de Kinshasa

Extrait du discours de Mme Yvette TABU INANGOY, Commissaire Générale de la Culture, Arts, Médias, Communication et NTIC. Ville Province de Kinshasa.

′′ Through your works, the Congolese people have shown their maturity and their ability to create, mobilize and organize. You are undeniably and definitely the craftsmen of the exceptional success of this unique event in the annals of Congolese cinema and in the economic development of the city of Kinshasa....It is with honor that I participate in this closing ceremony of the 7th edition of the Kinshasa International Cinema Festival which has undoubtedly contributed to making our culture even more known, toned, robust and competitive in this world which It's globalized by the giants; and I wish to see you soon at the 8th edition."May the Democratic Republic of Congo live!

“Never try to convey your idea to the audience - it is a thankless and senseless task. Show them life, and they’ll find within themselves the means to assess and appreciate it.”
― Andrei Tarkovsky

Heart of Africa

Called a "cultural revolution" in Kinshasa, this film signaled the return of cinema to the DR-Congo with its 2020 premiere. Though slowed by COVID19, it was the #1 foreign film in the USA when theaters closed.

International screenings and awards

Heart of Africa 2:
Companions

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The Conversation

Darius Gray with Mel and Carey Hamilton

When we released "Companions" (the sequel to "Heart of Africa"), we also released this Zoom conversation shot during the COVID 19 pandemic. We want it to foster further conversations.

Having successfully released our first two feature films in coordination with Bimpa Productions, we are ready to move up to greater goals.

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casting call in Kinshasa for Lumumba.jpg

The film "Patrice Lumumba" will reintroduce Lumumba to the world and will reveal the beauty and strength of the Congo.

Lumumba was called "the greatest black man ever to walk the African continent" by Malcolm X.

This film will be shot in Lumumba's home village and in the cities where he affected history--from Kinshasa to New York. Indigenous languages will be honored.

Lumumba!

Lumumba, born in Onalua

Lumumba and Premiere Eyskens sign indepe

Lumumba signs Independence documents

Lumumba with Dag Hammarskjold

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What Variety Magazine says about our project:

Congo Rising Sets Assassinated Leader Patrice Lumumba Film, Aims to Rebuild Congo Film Industry (EXCLUSIVE)

By Naman Ramachandran

Congo Rising is preparing “Patrice Lumumba,” a film on the life of the Congolese leader who was assassinated in 1961.

Lumumba, the leader of the Congolese National Movement party, was instrumental in securing Congo’s independence from Belgium and became the new republic’s first Prime Minister in 1960. However, after a a political struggle that involved the Belgian government, the U.N., Soviet Union and the U.S., Lumumba was deposed within a few months of his assuming power and was subsequently executed in 1961.

Lumumba was held in great esteem by top U.S. civil rights leaders as Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, who called him “the greatest Back man to ever walk on the African continent.”

The film will be directed, co-written and co-produced by Tshoper Kabambi Kashala (“Heart of Africa”), co-written by Veron Okavu On’Okundji and co-written and produced by Congo Rising’s Margaret Blair Young.

Production will begin in September in the Congo. With a predominantly African cast, the film will be in the Tetela, Lingala and French languages. Discussions are ongoing with A-list Hollywood talent to portray the key roles of Dag Hammarskjold (pictured, right), Secretary General of the United Nations, and Kwame Nkrumah, President of Ghana.

Congo Rising and its Congo partner, Bimpa Production, will be casting “Patrice Lumumba” later this month. The film will be lensed entirely on location in the areas in and around where Lumumba lived, where the true-life events took place, including the villages and cities of Onalua, Kisangani and Kinshasa.

“The film ‘Patrice Lumumba’ offers a vision into the life and courage of one of the great human rights leaders, one who was a foundational builder of the Pan African movement. In a real way, we are bringing Lumumba back to life at the exact moment when the world needs him and when his native land, the Democratic Republic of the Congo — on the threshold of great things after a disastrous decline initiated by Lumumba’s murder — must be inspired by his courage,” said Young.

“As the Black Lives Matter movement has grown, Lumumba’s legacy, and what he confronted as he sought independence for his nation, has become newly relevant. Statues of King Leopold II, whose cruel enterprises in the Congo resulted in the deaths of 10 million Congolese people, were toppled in Belgium in June 2020,” added Young.

“Africa today faces several problems including wars, looting, poverty, lack of health and education structures, corruption and so much more, and I am convinced that cinema can make a significant contribution to change,” said Kashala. “I want to make films that deal with the problematic issues that plague our societies, but which could also mean something to others. My greatest wish for this film would be first to immortalize our hero, to share his story with the world and especially with the Congolese.”

Congo Rising and Bimpa are also on a mission to rebuild the dormant Congo film industry. To this end, they have purchased state-of-the-art film equipment and acquired land to set up a film studio and university. There are plans to bring U.S. filmmakers to the Congo to teach film students, including speciality training in sound, animation and lighting.

Film Projects meet Educational Projects in Lodja

These are images of Lumumba's home province, where we have been working since 2018. Members of Bimpa Production have already filmed in the poorest villages and know how to do it well.