On the Rumba River
Le batelier de la Rumba

France , Congo Kinshasa, 2006, 82 min
In Lingala with English subtitles
North American Premiere

Directed By: Jacques Sarasin
Producer: Jacques Sarasin
Cinematographer: Remon Fromont
Editor: Bernard Josse

Brimming with music and dance, On the Rumba River looks at the life and times of beloved Congolese musician Wendo Kolosoy. Affectionately known as “Papa Wendo,” Kolosoy had his first hit in 1948, with a recording of “Marie Lousie” that blended rumba, beguine, waltz, tango, and cha cha cha and made him a superstar of African music. But through the years, he has weathered multiple political regimes, dictatorships, and repeated attempts at official suppression. Largely silent during the three decades of Mobutu rule and reduced at one point to begging on the street, Kolosoy has now been rediscovered by a new generation of musicians looking to him to lead the way.

As he captures Kolosoy's latest reunion with his band, the Victoria Bakolo Miziki Players, filmmaker Jacques Sarasin touches on the extreme poverty and ongoing civil war that is such a part of everyday life in the Congo. Examining the way in which music helps people transcend the most dire of circumstances, Sarasin discovers how music—and the musician's life—is often an uncomfortable fit for those trying to force free expression into the boundaries of a specific ideology or political viewpoint. The film becomes not only a tribute to the enduring, unstoppable spirit of Papa Wendo and his joyful music, but also a celebration of the Congolese people and their way of life.
 - Mark Olsen

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