What to Watch During Quarantine | Best African Movies, Documentaries & Shows
Bonjour Mes Amis,
I hope you are all well and staying safe. I've been social distancing for over a month now. Nzambe! (Lord in Lingala). During this time I started watching some great African movies, shows and concerts. I wanted to share with you some of my all-time favorites and new discoveries. I hope you love them as much as I do and it makes staying home a bit more enjoyable..
One of the best things about being Congolese is our joie de vivre (joy for life). We love to have fun, laugh and be with our friends and family. In a previous blog I wrote about how much I love my cousins (Blog: Kobe's Example - Show Gratitude...). We know how to enjoy ourselves and music is truly the soundtrack of our lives. Some of our favorites artists are Fally Ipupa, Koffi Olomide, Papa Wemba, Fela, Miriam Makeba and so many more. Anytime a Koffi song comes on I am are transported in time. His Papa Bonheur song reminds me of a party I attended with my older sister in Paris and dancing with my dad at a few parties including Ya Marie-France wedding in Pennsylvania. His newer song Papa Mobimba brings me back to a fun night at Jungle in Kinshasa with my cousins, My 40th in Paris and my daughter acting silly at home. I hope you enjoy Koffi Olomide Live concert from 2018. It's less than an hour long.
Did you know that before the famous Ali vs. Foreman fight in Kinshasa there was a three day festival? The festival was called Zaire 74 and it was held September 22-24, 1974. American performers James Brown, BB King, The Spinners, Bill Withers and Latin Star Celia Cruz performed. The festival included many African stars including "Mama Africa" Miriam Makeba, Ok Jazz, Franco and one of my favorite artist ever Tabu Ley Rochereau. The film has such great insights into Ali's thinking and feelings about being in Africa. The music is spectacular!!
If you prefer to just watch a documentary about the famous fight than I would recommend When We Were Kings. The movie has been playing a lot on CineMax and it's also available on Youtube. The documentary shows the preparation to the famous fight but also the excitement of Black Americans coming to Africa and feeling home. Like we've said, you can always go home and this movie shows you how satisfying it was for certain people. It's a fantastic documentary.
Like everyone I have been on a Netflix & Chill vibe for a bit. My friend Cinque Brath recommended the South African series Queen of Sono. Queen is a South African spy who can handle herself in some of the most challenging situations. Her mother Safiya Sono was a Freedom Fighter who was assassinated. Queen goes all over Africa to fight for her fellow Africans. Season 2 is coming soon so catch up.
My favorite movie is La Vie best Belle (Life is Beautiful) starring Papa Wemba. Papa Wemba is a peasant musician who leaves the village to try and make it in Kinshasa. Life in the big city was a shock to Kourou (Papa Wemba). He finds a job as a housekeeper and tries to win over the beautiful Kabibi. The music in the movie is fantastic and I love the mix of our traditional ways with modern music. The movie is about young love, cultural and traditional beliefs, the ups and downs of marriage and it made us all believe that soulmates always find a way back to each other. Oh, la vie est belle! La Vie est Belle w english subtitles
La Vie est Belle French Subtitles
There's so many great African movies and being in confinement is a great time to watch. Below are some more recommendations:
The City of Joy: It's about a center set up by Nobel Peace Prize Winner Dr. Denis Mukwege, women's right activist Christine Schuler Deschryver and Eve Ensler, the author of the Vagina Monologues. The center gives women who have been brutalized hope and their joy back. The movie highlights women's resilience, their will to thrive, gives them a voice and showcases how they worked to joy back after surviving unimaginable violence. (Available on Netflix)
Chief Daddy: Chief Daddy is a drama and comedy about a Billionaire who suddenly dies. His huge family fights over his fortune. I don't want to spoil it so I'll stop here. (Availabe on Netflix)
Life Point - a Professor suffers immense sadness when his wife/soulmate passes away. He tries to commit suicide several times so he can meet his wife in the afterlife but fails. He strikes up a friendship with a dance teacher/Central African refugee who helps him find the courage to live during his sadness. It's a beautiful and sad movie. The pull between Francophone and Anglophone Camerounaise plays beautifully in this film.
35 Cows and a Kalashnikov: Introduces you to the Sapeurs of Brazzaville and their way of life, Wrestlers in Kinshasa who use traditional medicines to win the psychological game before a match and warrior-farmers in Ethiopia.The film is a great introduction to some of the amazing cultures and people of the continent.
If you still want more African films I recommend the below:
Lionheart (2018 Nigeria) available on Netflix
Catching Feelings (South Africa) available on Netflix
My Very Ghanian Wedding (Ghana)
Atlantique(French)/Atlantic (English) 2019 Senegal
Elonga (Congo- Brazzaville)
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Happy Viewing,
Adolophine