Benda Bilili!

The first scene sets the tone. One of the happiest and most joyous musics starts and what you see is a middle-aged cripple (a man deprived of his legs). And the cripple dances to the music -- and I mean it: the guy doesn't move around by the beat of the music, he really dances. Amazing.

Renaud Barret and Florent de la Tullaye have followed a band made of four homeless paraplegics and three "abled" men, the Staff Benda Bilili, from the streets of Kinshasa, Congo, to music festivals in the cities of Europe. Some have guitars and wonderful voices, some have a wire on a tin or pieces of wood to beat. Another success story? Yes, but there is more to it. There are ups and downs, as life isn't always easy in one of the poorest countries on earth, especially when you have just a sheet of cardboard on which to sleep.

The two filmmakers started to befriend the leader of the band, Ricky, and after becoming enchanted by Benda Bilili's terrific music, they decided to help the small group make a recording. At the time, they had no idea that their commitment would take five years. The other striking character is young Roger, a street child with a gift for music at the beginning of the documentary, a man and an accomplished musician at the end of the film. It's moving to watch him grow, escaping from gang life and God knows what, and making his dreams come true. It's too bad though that we don't learn much about the members of the band, but given the budgetary restraints under which the film was made, I think that it was merely impossible for the filmmakers to delve into this subject.

Look out for "Benda Bilili!" if you can, especially of you dig in African music or/and "cinéma vérité".

Ridiculously inspiring documentary about the coming together of a musical group formed by homeless street people, most of whom are older paraplegics, in the poverty ridden Congo. They take in a young man with his home-made, one-stringed instrument as a sort of protégé. They practice for years (the film was made over a 5 year period) before finally getting to play in Europe. The music and performances are amazing, the people even more so.

Often I find 'warm your heart' docs too sticky and manipulative. But these brave and wonderful musicians earn every bit of our admiration, respect and joy. We see the downs as well as the ups, and the film never short changes just how much work and luck have to come together for these artists to have any hope of success.

The film-makers make no pretense at staying removed and objective. They are just as won over, and in time actively become a part of trying to raise enough money to help these men live their dream, to record, and to travel with their music. (But in an understated way – this never feels like a film of self-aggrandizement). A true triumph of the human spirit story, filed with smiles against all the overwhelming odds.

Benda Bilili! Is a 2010 documentary about a group of disabled musicians from Kinshasa, Congo who use rudimentary and hand made instruments to produce wonderful rumba and reggae music. The band are followed from 2004 to 2010 by French film makers Renaud Barret and Florent de La Tullaye as they progress from living on the streets and practicing at the city's zoo to recording an album and touring Europe. The film focuses on the struggles of the various members and those around them and upon their influence in the city and especially on the young street kids who follow and assist them.

The band use strange hand peddled tricycles to get about as most of the members suffer from Polio and are unable to walk. Their songs are about their lives on the streets from being laughed at for being handicapped to songs about sleeping on cardboard. Bad things keep coming at the various members but they never let it get them down and remain focused on making a better life for themselves and their families. In one scene, the leader of the band Staff Benda Bilili a street papa called Ricky Lickabu receives a call to say that the shack that he has been staying at has been burned down. He simply turns to the camera and says "these things happen in life". He is later seen sleeping on the street with his wife and four children.

Along with Ricky another one of the stars of the film is Roger Landu who was introduced to the band by the French film makers. Landu fashioned his own instrument using an empty tin can, a twig and string and is able to make incredible music from just one high pitched twang. After joining the group as a shy but dedicated young boy by the end of the film he is on stage in France performing solos, lying on his back on stage ala Jimi Hendrix to the delight of the paying crowds. It's a fantastic story.

All the way through the members of the band are sure to try to educate those around them about the likes of hard work and vaccinations and even share out what little money they make between their various hangers on. The street children who surround the band who have had no formal education speak with more wisdom and knowledge than I've ever heard come from a Western child. They are aware of their surroundings, what has caused them and the various legal and illegal ways out and debate amongst themselves the various possibilities of their future. It's heartbreaking.

One theme throughout the film is everyone's desire to get to Europe. Europe is almost treated as a mystical place where anything is possible. Some people have misconceptions such as one child who tells his young friend that "Europe is a country that God put here so we can compare it to our own". Everyone knows that their best chance of survival is to make it to Europe and the streets of Europe's cities are testament to the fact that many get here.

Benda Bilili! is a thoroughly uplifting film though you have to get through some pretty rough viewing to get there. The story and people are life affirming and the music is excellent.

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