 | You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in French. (April 2012)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
| Benda Bilili! | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Renaud Barret Florent de La Tullaye |
| Screenplay by | Renaud Barret Florent de La Tullaye |
| Produced by | Screenrunner La Belle Kinoise |
| Cinematography | Florent de La Tullaye Renaud Barret |
| Edited by | Jean-Christophe Hym |
| Music by | Staff Benda Bilili |
Release date |
|
Running time | 84 minutes |
| Countries | Democratic Republic of the Congo France |
| Languages | French Lingala |
| Box office | US$127,362 |
Benda Bilili! is a 2010 documentary byRenaud Barret andFlorent de La Tullaye, produced byYves Chanvillard andNadim Cheikhrouha (Screenrunner).
The film follows theKinshasastreet musician groupStaff Benda Bilili, whose core members of the group are disabled due topolio. "Benda Bilili" means "look beyond appearances" inLingala.
Renaud Barret and partner Florent de La Tullaye first spotted the group performing on the streets of Kinshasa in 2004. The shooting lasted 5 years until the Staff Benda Bilili became worldwide acclaimed. Amid this larger arc of triumph over adversity, it's Barret and de La Tullaye's joint eye for smaller personal and environmental details that keep the film witty and surprising: the camera captures the social cut-and-thrust of urban Kinshasa, before reflecting the group's wonder at a wider world they previously imagined only in mythic terms. In Benda Bilili!, the sense of discovery between subject and audience is thrillingly mutual.
Benda Bilili! received standing ovations when it opened at the2010 Cannes Film Festival, with the group in attendance, and performing at theDirectors' Fortnight opening party.[1]
The film opened in American theatres in 2011, although a planned U.S. tour in conjunction with the film had to be canceled due topassport problems.[2]
A musical documentary depicting the against-all-odds rise of Staff Benda Bilili, a dynamic band of street musicians from the Democratic Republic of Congo who became beloved stars of the world music circuit. Charting the group's progress across several years, Benda Bilili! tells a real-life Cinderella story spanning humble beginnings in Kinshasa and a triumphant European tour.