Jupiter's Dance : DVD available March 2007

Jupiter's Dance, the acclaimed documentary by Renaud Barret & Florent de la Tullaye will be released on DVD from March 2007. Jupiter's Dance will be available as a special DVD + audio CD package. The CD features 11 exclusive tracks by Jupiter Bokondji & Okwess International, produced by Yarol Poupaud.

Kinshasa, 7 million inhabitants. The run-down capital of a country adrift: The Democratic Republic of the Congo. The DRC, 6 times bigger than France is made up of a mosaic of 450 ethnic groups. A political headache, yet at the same time, an inexhaustible source of creativity…

From the fifties through to the eighties, Kinshasa was the musical capital of Africa. All ethnic groups flocked to the melting pot of this large "model" city. Along with them, the musicians brought their traditional melodies which they crossed with the Latin-American rhythms imported by the Portuguese colonists. It gave birth to Zairian Rumba, Soukouss and then Ndombolo. The stars were Grand Kallé with his "Independence Cha-Cha" ”, Tabuley Rochereau, T.P. OK Jazz de Franco, Zaïko Langa Langa, followed by Papa Wemba and Koffi Olomide… The Kinshasa sound inspired the whole of Africa and was exported the world over. Bands and groups thrived and Kinshasa musicians lived from their art. Today, all of these structures have collapsed and this "golden age" is but a distant memory.

Since the dictator Mobutu was overthrown in 1997, wars of succession, pillaging and exodus have left over 4 million dead and have cast thousands of refugee families onto the streets of an already over-populated megapolis. To the east and north of the Congo, bordering states backed by Western powers

have pillaged the country's immense natural wealth and fuelled bloody guerrilla warfare. The government is riddled with corruption and the people, as if held hostage, have slid into poverty. By day, Kinshasa is ugly: detritus-strewn streets, buildings in ruin, potholed roadways… Amidst filth and clammy heat, it teems with human activity. In the space of 15 years, "Kin the beautiful" has become "Kin the dump".

Despite all, Kinshasa exudes an extraordinary energy and its primary form of expression remains music… Music is everywhere. It bursts forth from houses, bars, churches and shops. On every street corner, kids are playing makeshift instruments: cardboard drum kits and guitars made from old planks.

There is also the permanent concert of the street sellers who walk the city tapping on their tin cans, with each particular rhythm indicating the product they sell. One doesn't see Kinshasa, one hears Kinshasa.

When night falls, it blunts the hard edges of poverty to reveal another city. Because another facet of Kinshasa is "ambiance", partying at all costs as if to exorcize suffering. Kinshasa is renowned for it throughout the whole of Africa. Every night, whether in tatters or Armani suits, the Kinshasa folk bop till they drop, to the latest Ndombolo hits. Ndombolo is a highly rhythmic music which emerged during the dark years of Mobutu's reign. But today, Ndombolo merely glorifies the powers that be and sings of love for pretty girls and fancy clothes. However, Ndombolo, music without a message, is a veritable religion in Kinshasa. Its stars (Papa Wemba, Werrason, Koffi Olomide...) reign jealously and unsharingly over the Congo's music scene.

Yet in the ghetto, the diversity of musical styles is staggering. Thousands of totally destitute young musicians try their hand at new musical experiments: electro-trad, rap in Lingala, urban soul, rumba-blues, Swahili ragga… They dream of finding a producer, of one day being the new Lokua Kanza, the new 50 Cent…