‘Premiere: Félicité - Alain Gomis’

Félicité is a proud and independent woman who works as a singer in a bar in Kinshasa. Whenever she goes on stage, she appears to leave the world and her everyday worries behind. Her audiences are quickly infected by the rhythm of her music and her powerful, melancholy melodies. But then one day, Félicité’s son has a terrible accident. Whilst he is in hospital she desperately tries to raise the money needed for his operation. A breathless tour through the impoverished streets and the wealthier districts of the Congolese capital ensues. One of the bar’s regulars is a man named Tabu who has been known to get carried away in every sense of the term. Tabu offers to help Félicité. Reluctantly, she accepts. After his spell in hospital, Félicité’s son has a hard time picking up his old life, but it is lady’s man Tabu, of all people, who manages to coax him out of his shell. Félicité’s sparsely furnished flat with its permanently defunct fridge becomes a mini utopia in a country that holds no hope for most of its population. The trio forms an eccentric community thrown together by fate, each of whom is free to go their separate ways together.

KASAI ALLSTARS : at the centre of the film Félicité
Inspired by the music of Kasai Allstars, the director Gomis drew inspiration from the voice and personality of Muambuyi, the group’s vocalist, to create the heroine of his film Félicité, a free, proud woman who strikes out on a frantic race through the streets of an electric Kinshasa to save her son. The film was awarded the Silver Bear Jury Grand Prix at the 2017 Berlinale, and the Etalon d'Or (Golden Stallion) at the FESPACO (Pan African Film Festival).