Icarus Films announced this past week that award-winning documentary filmmaker Dieudo Hamadi’s Downstream to Kinshasa will be making its domestic DVD debut on Sept. 21.
A native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Hamadi provides a unique voice for what took place in Kisangani in June of 2000, which has come to be called the “Six Day War.” That is something of a misnomer, since armed conflict between forces from Uganda and Rwanda had used the Congolese city on two previous occasions in the months before as a battle ground … the “Six Day War” was the culmination of the open conflict between these two East African nations, with thousands of Congolese civilians caught in the crossfire.
Hamadi’s very personal film documents the journey of war-survivors down the Congo River from the country’s capitol of Kisangani to Kinshasa to express their grievances and lack of reparations … the journey is filled with stories from the survivors, of what took place and memories of those who were killed.
The film has been working the international film festival circuit, pulling in awards and critical recognition, but Dieudo Hamadi’s Downstream to Kinshasa has also become something of a voice for horrific events in a far-off place that are often ignored by the Western world.
Downstream to Kinshasa is presented in Swahili (with some Lingala) and includes English subtitles throughout.
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