A French documentary called Benda Bilili is getting quite popular at Cannes.The film by Renaud Barret and Florent do la Tullaye, who were unsatisfied in their jobs in advertising and photo-journalism though 'hey, why not make movies' Gosh they've just inspired me and the story gets better, It was while making another film about Congolese music that they happened on these musical men of the street...The group's original core is made up of three paraplegic middle-aged street-dwellers who live in cardboard boxes in this lawless city and stay sane by making music. They are joined by a 12-year-old drummer and by Roger, a 13-year-old runaway who makes music by connecting a tin can to a stick with a piece of nylon. They started to befriend the elder and soul of the band,
Papa Ricky; after becoming enchanted by their music, they decided to help Staff Benda Bilili make a recording. At the time, they had no idea that this commitment would take five years, or that it would change the lives of all of those involved.
It opens with a middle-aged man with polio dancing on a dusty street in the Congolese city of Kinshasa,then moves onto its main subject: a group of musicians that goes by the name of Staff Benda Bilili. The words "benda bilili" mean "beyond appearances"; for this band of brothers, it's a statement with profound meaning.
Early in the making of the movie, band member Coco Yakala mused: "One day, we will be the most famous disabled men in all of Africa." Well, they got their wish! When the album, Tres Tres Fort, was released in 2009, it precipitated a European tour which was attended by sell-out crowds and which elicited some truly wonderful footage...its like a Fairy tale without fairies and tutus, just musical men!Truly inspiring, cant wait
download it...watch it
Not surprisingly, the entire cinema audience rose for a standing ovation...Reading this brought tears to my eyes..Dreams come true...
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