Congo Calling
Stephan Hilpert’s documentary questions the efficacy of three white humanitarian workers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
So many countries have been subject to years of conflict in this 21st century that it is hardly surprising that some of them have only now and again featured in the headlines. It seems fair to say that the Democratic Republic of Congo is one such and Stephan Hilpert’s Congo Calling serves a real purpose in reminding us of the suffering of that country’s people. It does so by concentrating on the experiences of three outsiders, although in the case of the German aid worker Peter Merten he is a man in his sixties who has lived in Africa for thirty years or so. In contrast to that, Raúl Sánchez de la Sierra had come there in comparatively recent times and we find him on a special mission on behalf of Marakuja Kivu Research. His work was to study the conflict between the military authorities of the then president, Joseph Kabila, and rebel militia seeking independence. We follow him as he checks out Mai-Mai groups who occupy villages and who, for all their talk of developing agriculture and stabilising society control, are ready to impose themselves using extreme acts of violence in the process.
The third outsider is a Belgian, Anne-Laure Van der Wielen, and her involvement as press officer for the Amani Music Festival held in Kivu initially paints a very different picture of life there. But, despite the event being known as a festival for peace, a violent incident takes place with the police shooting two volunteers working there. The decision is taken not to close down but to continue with the festival and this leads to the performance of songs that are strongly political. In Anne-Laure’s case, her own story involves a telling personal drama too: she develops a genuine relationship with a Congolese named Fred Bauma who becomes increasingly critical of the regime and his need to be part of the struggle clashes with her own desire to return to Belgium.
The individual tales might have been best told one by one but are instead merged so that one continually jumps from one to another. All three are interesting but, while they play out against the unfolding Congolese setting, one comes to feel the need of more detailed information about the situation in the country generally. This could have been supplied through a narrator or by amplifying the statements about the historical and political situation which appear far too briefly at the start of the film. In their own way the stories that emerge do create awareness of what life in the Congo was like at the time of the shoot, but the mix does tend to put the focus on the three outsiders even more than on the general state of things in the Congo. Even so, enough comes across for Congo Calling to be a firm reminder of social injustice as well as providing involving portraits of three people anxious to be of help and sympathetic to the Congolese people albeit prevented from doing as much for them as they would wish.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Featuring Raúl Sánchez de la Sierra, Peter Merten, Anne-Laure Van der Wielen, Fred Bauma, Christian Mastaki, Florian Merten, Saudi Sol, Bill Clinton.
Dir Stephan Hilpert, Pro Stephan Hilpert, Written by Stephan Hilpert, Ph Daniel Samer, Ed Miriam Märk, Music Sebastian Fillenberg.
ZDF - Das Kleine Fernsehspiel/University of Television and Film Munich-Dartmouth Films.
90 mins. Germany/Belgium/Congo. 2019. Rel: 29 October 20121 Cert. 12A.
