La Belle at the Movies + Apostles of Cinema

La Belle at the Movies examines the decline of the movie business in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s capital city by putting us in touch with audiences cut adrift from their beloved theaters. Through passionate, insightful, and deeply nostalgic interviews with filmmakers, cinema owners, government officials, and film lovers, Cecilia Zoppelletto’s lyrical documentary reveals complex politics and past events inexorably linked to the fate of “the movies” — an industry feeling orphaned but living in hope for a brighter future.

+ Apostles of Cinema (Cece Mlay, Jesse Gerard Mpango, Gertrude Malizana & Darragh Amelia; Tanzania; 2022; 17 min)
Apostles of Cinema (or Tenzi za Sinema) follows Frank, DJ Black, and Rehema — three devoted film workers in Tanzania — as they reintroduce a classic piece of the country’s film history to their audiences of working-class cinephiles.

Curators’ Note:

In both films in this program, we are witness to a cinema culture with a defiant will to survive. La Belle At the Movies is an unsurprising yet shocking look at a city(Kinshasa) that has developed a rich film history, but no longer has a single functioning cinema. It’s left to roadside traders of foreign DVD films to create a third space for movie-lovers to congregate.

In Apostles of Cinema, self-appointed apostles spread the gospel of cinema by providing third-space cinema houses and translating foreign films for local consumption. This process involves not only subtitling but also a form of audio dubbing that serves as its own cultural translation.

— Kika Memeh and Ogheneofegor Obuwoma, Akojo Film Collective

Community Partner

UBC Africa Awareness Initiative