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This Is Congo

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This Is Congo
Directed byDaniel McCabe
Produced by
  • Geoff McLean
  • Daniel McCabe
  • Alyse Ardell Spiegel
Edited byAlyse Ardell Spiegel
Music by
Production
companies
  • Turbo/Vision Film Company
  • T-Dog Productions
  • Sabotage Films
  • Thought Engine
Distributed byDogwoof
Release date
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesEnglish, French, Swahili, Lingala

This Is Congo is a 2017 documentary film by American filmmaker and photographer Daniel McCabe.[1] It was distributed by Dogwoof and produced by Turbo/Vision Film Company, T-Dog Productions, Sabotage Films and Thought Engine. The film features a voice over by Ivorian actor Isaach de Bankolé.[1] It premiered at the Venice Film Festival as an out of competition title, and had a screening at TIFF Bell Lightbox in April 2018.[2][3]

Reception

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This Is Congo received positive reviews from film critics. Cath Clarke of The Guardian rated it 3 stars out of 5, saying it is "a long read about the humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo".[4] Clarke also said its potted history will "frustrate experts as superficial".[4] In a review for The New York Times, Ben Kenigsberg said the film provides a lot to admire and that the "sheer scope of the subject matter might be even better served by the capaciousness of a mini-series".[5] Los Angeles Times writer Gary Goldstein described it as "vivid" and "immersive", noting its characters "provide a haunting window into a deeply anarchic world too-rarely glimpsed".[6] Guy Lodge of Variety magazine said the film "excels when trading in details that can't be more substantively gleaned from written history and journalism."[1]

Boyd Hoeij of The Hollywood Reporter applauded the film's combat scenes, but criticized McCabe for "omitting things that are equally important for an understanding of the Kivu Conflict".[2] Ed Potton of The Sunday Times awarded the film 3 stars out of 5, describing it as "hard-hitting and often harrowing".[7] The New Yorker's Peter Canby said the film "covers a specific episode of the country's more general violence".[8] In addition, Canby highlighted the character Colonel Ndala as the standout among the four characters.[8] In a review for Point of View magazine, Pat Mullen said the film "works viscerally and has a great impact at an emotional level" and that McCabe "implores audiences to bear witness to crimes to which previous generations turned a blind eye".[3] Alan Scherstuhl of The Village Voice described the film's footage as "harrowing, raw and intimate".[9]

The Financial Times writer Nigel Andrews granted the film 3 stars out of 5, saying McCabe's multiple portraiture "enthral".[10] L. Kent Wolgamott of Lincoln Journal Star said the film tells the war-torn story of the DRC through "the testimony of four people, vintage news clips and raw, riveting footage from the battlefields and displaced person camps".[11] In The London Economic, journalist Wyndham Hacket Pain opined that although the documentary "may tell a story that is familiar from new reports and articles, it has rarely been told in such a meditative and poetic manner."[12] David D'Arcy of Screen Daily commended McCabe for presenting the DRC story with a "grim element of surprise", but ended up saying the documentary's multiple perspectives "can feel lopsided".[13] Reviewing for International Policy Digest, David Ferguson said This Is Congo was "beautifully photographed, and perfectly captures the often stunning landscape between violent bursts of war and personal fright".[14]

Accolades

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Award Category Recipients and nominees Outcome Ref
Global Cinema Film Festival Best Film Editing This Is Congo Won [15]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Guy Lodge (September 21, 2017). "Film Review: 'This Is Congo'". Variety. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  2. ^ a b Boyd van Hoeij (September 1, 2017). "'This Is Congo': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  3. ^ a b Pat Mullen (April 20, 2018). "Review: 'This is Congo'". Point of View. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  4. ^ a b Cath Clarke (25 May 2018). "This Is Congo review – distressing story of a humanitarian crisis". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  5. ^ Kenigsberg, Ben (June 28, 2018). "Review: In 'This Is Congo,' Four Lives Shaken by Conflict". The New York Times. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  6. ^ Gary Goldstein (June 28, 2018). "Review: Documentary 'This Is Congo' views war-torn African nation through four lives". LA Times. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  7. ^ Ed Putton (May 25, 2018). "Film review: This is Congo". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  8. ^ a b Peter Canby (July 12, 2018). ""This Is Congo" and the Ongoing Despair in the Democratic Republic of the Congo". The New Yorker. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  9. ^ Alan Scherstuhl (June 26, 2018). "The Searing "This Is Congo" Embeds Us in a Nation's Terrifying Normal". The Village Voice. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  10. ^ Nigel Andrews (May 23, 2018). "This Is Congo — mercilessly illuminating". Financial Times. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  11. ^ L. Kent Wolgamott (August 22, 2018). "'This Is Congo' movie review: Documentary looks at devastation of the war-torn country". Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  12. ^ Wyndham Hacket Pain (May 25, 2018). "Film Review: This is Congo". The London Economic. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  13. ^ David D'Arcy (31 August 2017). "'This Is Congo': Venice Review". Screen Daily. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  14. ^ David Ferguson (29 June 2019). "'This is Congo' Review". International Policy Digest. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  15. ^ "'This is Congo' nets top award in Global Cinema Film Festival". The Metro West Daily News. March 14, 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
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