Skip to main content
Félicité film image; woman dancing

Félicité

FOCUS

This event has passed

Félicité is a proud, free-willed woman working as a singer in a bar in Kinshasa. Her life is thrown into turmoil when her 14-year-old son falls victim to an accident. To save him, she sets out on a breakneck race through the streets of electric Kinshasa – a world of music and dreams where she’ll cross paths with Tabu…

Félicité is a force; a woman who, when faced with the ghastly injury of her son, must pull out all the stops to save him. Through the busy streets of Kinshasa, she rushes against time and all odds to restore order to her life. Véro Tshanda Beya Mputu’s performance is singular in its portrayal of the difficulties of city life as a woman. We witness her navigate her job as a singer and her inevitable grief as a woman touched by life.

Kika Memeh & Ogheneofegor Obuwoma, FOCUS Curators

 

Presented by

Director
Cast

Véro Tshanda Beya Mputu, Gaetan Claudia, Papi Mpaka

Credits
Country of Origin

France/Senegal/Belgium/
Germany/Lebanon

Year

2017

Language

In Lingala with English subtitles

Film Contact
18+
123 min
Black Cinema Drama
Andolfi, Granit Films

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Credits & Director

Executive Producer

Roger Ngandu Kangudia

Producer

Arnaud Dommerc, Alain Gomis, Omar Sall

Screenwriter

Alain Gomis

Cinematography

Céline Bozon

Editor

Fabrice Rouaud

Production Design

Oumar Sall

Original Music

The Kasaï Allstars

Alain Gomis headshot; Félicité director

Alain Gomis

Alain Gomis was born in Paris, France where he studied art history and film. After making videos and short films, his first feature film L’afrance (2002) won the Silver Leopard at Locarno. Félicité was shown at the Competition section of the 2017 Berlinale.

Filmography: L’afrance (2002); Andalucia (2007); Aujourd’hui (2012); Rewind & Play (2022)

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

O Brother, Where Art Thou? + The Soda Crackers

Dir. Joel & Ethan Coen
107 min

Join us for a fun afternoon of bluegrass music with the Soda Crackers, followed by a special 25th anniversary screening of the Coen brothers' beloved Homeric comedy, O Brother, Where Art Thou? starring George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Meadowlarks

Dir. Tasha Hubbard
91 min

Fifty years after being separated during the Sixties Scoop, four Cree siblings reunite for the first time on a long weekend trip to Banff. Tasha Hubbard’s sensitive drama relates an emotional and life-affirming story of kinship and belonging.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Mistress Dispeller

Dir. Elizabeth Lo
94 min

Sensing her husband has strayed, a Chinese woman hires a mistress dispeller to insinuate herself between the lovers and sow enough doubt to break up the liaison. A documentary.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Left-Handed Girl

Dir. Shih-Ching Tsou
109 min

Co-written and edited by Sean Baker (Anora), Shi-Ching Tsou's heartwarming solo feature debut follows a single mom in Taipei who is too consumed with her noodle stand to keep tabs on her five-year-old daughter's burgeoning shoplifting habit.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Measures for a Funeral

Dir. Sofia Bohdanowicz
142 min

When a young academic discovers a personal link to Canadian violinist Kathleen Parlow, she is compelled to dig deeper. Her investigations lead her on the trail of an elusive concerto, lost for over a century, but which she is determined to bring to light.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Jay Kelly

Dir. Noah Baumbach
130 min

In Noah Baumbach's wise and witty comedy, George Clooney plays Jay Kelly, a world-famous movie star touring Europe with his friend and manager, Ron (Adam Sandler). Faced with nagging dissatisfaction, Jay starts to ask himself some tough questions.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema