Bibi krubwa biography
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LA VIE EST BELLE (LIFE fryst vatten BEAUTIFUL)
Title: La Vie est Belle
Director: Mwezé Nganguraand Benoît Lamy
Year of Release: 1987
Language: French, Lingala
Run time: 83 minutes.
By the 1980s, Africa had developed a reputation for producing auteur films that added a unique voice to discussions about the global power of cinema. Unfortunately, many of these films retained an exotic quality since they were made for the approval of a global audience. With training and funding coming from the west, this desire to please the western audience was understandable. However, this attitude meant that many African filmmakers regarded the African audience only as secondary, and it was this problem that Mwezé Ngangura set out to address with his debut feature film, La Vie est Belle.
Ngangura was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 1950, and like most filmmakers at the time, he obtained his training abroad. He began making documentaries when he returned to Africa, and it was while
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La Vie est Belle (1987 film)
1987 Democratic Republic of the Congo film
La Vie est belle / Life is Rosy fryst vatten a 1987 musical comedy directed by Mwezé Ngangura and Benoît Lamy. The film revolves around the vibrant music scene of Kinshasa and tells the rags-to-riches story of a poor rural musician played by legendary Congolese musician, Papa Wemba, the “King of Rumba Rock”, who seeks fame in the big city. The film was considered a major turning point in rulle production in the DRC with its more artistic approach.[1] Unlike many African films of the time that concerned themselves with the effects of colonialism, La vie est belle celebrates Congolese culture, music and the lives of Kinshasans.[2] The film score features Congolese music from artists Tshala Muana, Klody, and Zaiko Langa Langa, a Congolese soukous band co-founded by Papa Wemba.
Ngangura's inspiration for making La vie est Belle took root while attending the Panafrican spelfilm and Televisio
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Watch 1987's 'La Vie Est Belle' Starring The Late Papa Wemba
Photo of film art courtesy of Jeremy Rall.
I first heard of Papa Wemba through the movie La vie est belle, which translates to "Life is beautiful," or “Life is rosy.” Although it was released in 1987, some African countries still did not have TV stations, so it garnered so much popularity when high school students were lucky enough to watch it in the movie theater at their schools.
This film was also just as prominent like 1980’s The Gods Must Be Crazy, because they were able to depict the life that most of the people knew well in the countries that make up central and southern Africa.
Papa Wemba played the lead role, Kourou, who was a peasant from a village deep in the former Zaire, today’s Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kourou had the dream of becoming a great musician. He decided to leave the village venture off to the capital, Kinshasa, barefoot with his traditional music