Benda Bilili!
2011 Directed by Renaud Barret, Florent de La Tullaye
Synopsis
Beyond appearances.
Ricky has a dream: to make Staff Benda Bilili the best band in Congo Kinshasa. Roger, a street child, more than ever wants to join these stars of the ghetto, who get around in customized tricycles. Together, they must avoid the pitfalls of the street, stay united and find the force to hope in music. For six years, from the first rehearsals to their triumph in international festivals, BENDA BILILI! (“beyond appearances”) is the story of this dream come reality.
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Uplifting doesn't come close to what this film is.
What I learnt.
Congo is well tough to live in.
If u are bored then get a tin of beans and play a riff.
If u can't sleep then get some cardboard and try the floor.
If u have no functioning legs then play football with ur hands.If u can do all the above then don't bitch about your life!
Watch this!
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So many great scenes both funny and cool. I even watched all the extra's and deleted scenes which have even more goodies.
It's fascinating to see a documentary set somewhere like Kinshasa, DR Congo, rather than the Western World. These guys are not feeling sorry for themselves and whining they're just getting on with the job. Making the most of what they've got. They could avoid poverty to some extent by not having umpteen kids a piece, but nar, these boys don't play that shit, they play riddums. A charismatic bunch that can assemble a funky tune like Congolese Avengers and boy can these fellows dance!
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Benda Bilili will make you proud to be a human being and ashamed for being such a cry baby. The documentary follows a band of paraplegic musicians trying to make it from the poverty-stricken streets of Kinshasa, Congo to the promised-land of Europe.
Visually the film itself is pretty unremarkable. It lacks flair, and at times looks like a made for TV production. The French team originally set out to make a broad film about African music when they happened to stumble upon the colourful characters of Staff Benda Bilili. It really doesn’t matter, the story is powerful enough to carry itself. The Music-Doc approach actually works to the film’s benefit as they never dwell upon the hardship or revel…
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Can you instantly name the best moment of your life? I can. It was the 8th of August 2010, and I was standing in the rain and mud in a field on the outskirts of a small Finnish city. As were some 20,000 others, all of us screaming along to Iron Maiden's "Blood Brothers". The song had been dedicated to a man killed earlier in the day when a freak tornado tore through the festival grounds and ripped down one of the stages. Here we all were, standing in unison to mourn a man that none of us even knew. Except that we did. That's the power of music, its terrific ability to bring people together despite the difficult circumstances…
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Benda Bilili is not only an excellent music documentary but a fantastic film that captures a rarely captured community living on the periphery of society. Staff Benda Bilili are a group of poor and disabled musicians living on the streets of the Congo capital, Kinshasa. The film documents the band’s journey from the streets to recording studios and beyond.
A documentary of this nature could have so easily been sentimental and patronising yet the filmmakers avoid these major pitfalls and deliver a heartfelt, uplifting but importantly grounded story. As predictably great as the music is the real joy comes from the group interactions and how the film captures street life for the members and wider community. It is a harsh environment yet the music provides a relief and release from these hardships for both band members and the others living on the streets. Wonderful.
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Truly inspirational film about the everlasting power of music. Stunning documentary.
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There are some films that just make you feel happy with a reaffirmation of the human spirit, whether it be the characters, the story or the journey they take you on. Here the music and the message they send through it, that depicts their personal struggles back home in Congo, are a joy to behold.
This is about a group of seven Congolese street musicians, four of who are paraplegic, led by the determined Papa Ricky, who holds eternal the belief that Staff Benda Bilili will eventually see the fruit of their practice. Removing the material success they all desire to seek a way out of their hard life sleeping on cardboard in the city of Kinshasa, the pleasure they…
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Immobility becomes mobility via music for homeless musicians in Kongo Kinshasa. Beautiful.
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Benda Bilili will make you proud to be a human being and ashamed for being such a cry baby. The documentary follows a band of paraplegic musicians trying to make it from the poverty-stricken streets of Kinshasa, Congo to the promised-land of Europe.
Visually the film itself is pretty unremarkable. It lacks flair, and at times looks like a made for TV production. The French team originally set out to make a broad film about African music when they happened to stumble upon the colourful characters of Staff Benda Bilili. It really doesn’t matter, the story is powerful enough to carry itself. The Music-Doc approach actually works to the film’s benefit as they never dwell upon the hardship or revel…
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French documentarians break the rules, interfering with their subjects' bleak circumstances by actually helping them. The bastards.
Congolese steampunk wheelchairs and a unique string instrument invented by a child; songs about sleeping on cardboard and people who have nothing still managing to lose everything. Talent, optimism and heart; very very strong.
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Papa Ricky, Roger and the rest of the band 'Staff Benda Bilili' are a true inspiration.
If they could bottle up their sheer joy, the passion for their craft and the ability to bring their said craft to fruition, they could make a fortune.
A wonderful band and a very good film. I can't take this smile off of my face. -
An uplifting documentary about a group of street musicians in the Democratic Republic of Congo that overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to record albums and tour Europe.
The sheer level of poverty and hardship (not to mention physical disability) endured by Staff Benda Bilili will be difficult to comprehend for many viewers. Their success is a real triumph of talent, persistence and the human spirit that a good number of people in the developed world could do with taking note of and hats off to the film-makers for telling this story.
The only sour note is that we have yet another powerful illustration of the disgraceful chasm that exists between the haves and the have-nots in the world.
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Staff Benda Bilili is a group of Congolese street musicians paralysed by polio as children. They play on handmade instruments and are accompanied by abandoned children.
We get a glimpse into the hard lives they have led, but are left uplifted by their enthusiasm, their joy and their love for music. -
So many great scenes both funny and cool. I even watched all the extra's and deleted scenes which have even more goodies.
It's fascinating to see a documentary set somewhere like Kinshasa, DR Congo, rather than the Western World. These guys are not feeling sorry for themselves and whining they're just getting on with the job. Making the most of what they've got. They could avoid poverty to some extent by not having umpteen kids a piece, but nar, these boys don't play that shit, they play riddums. A charismatic bunch that can assemble a funky tune like Congolese Avengers and boy can these fellows dance!
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Truly inspirational film about the everlasting power of music. Stunning documentary.