''Downstream to Kinshasa'' (french: En route pour le milliard) is a documentary film from the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

, directed by

Dieudo Hamadi Dieudo Hamadi (born 1984) is a documentary filmmaker from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.François Ekchajzer"Le cinéaste Dieudo Hamadi, porte-parole des victimes de l’autre guerre des Six-Jours" ''Télérama'', October 7, 2021. Born in K ...

and released in 2020. The film centres on survivors of the DRC's

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...

of 2000, many of whom are travelling to

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...

to demand compensation from the government for the losses they incurred during the conflict.Christopher Vourlias
"‘Downstream to Kinshasa,’ First Congolese Film in Cannes Official Selection, Honors Resilience of War Victims"
''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', June 26, 2020. The film was named an Official Selection of the

2020 Cannes Film Festival The 73rd annual Cannes Film Festival was scheduled to take place from 12 to 23 May 2020. On 13 January 2020, Spike Lee was named as the president of the Jury. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France, festival management announced on 14 ...

, the first film from the Democratic Republic of the Congo ever designated, with its English title initially given as ''The Billion Road''. Due to the cancellation of the festival in light of the

COVID-19 pandemic in France The COVID-19 pandemic in France has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The virus was confirmed to have reached France on 24 January 2020, when the first COVID-19 case in both Europe and France was identified in Bordeaux. Th ...

, it was not screened at that time; however, it was given an online screening for distributors as part of the

Marché du Film The ''Marché du Film'' (french for "Film Market") is one of the largest film markets in the world.Marc ...

. It had its public premiere in September 2020 as part of the Planet Africa program at the

2020 Toronto International Film Festival The 2020 Toronto International Film Festival, the 45th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held from September 10 to 21, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto, the festival took place primarily on an online stream ...

,Jeremy Kay
"TIFF adds special events including new edition of Planet Africa, live talks series"
''

Screen Daily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...

'', August 25, 2020. where it received an honorable mention from the jury for the Amplify Voices Award. It was subsequently screened at the

Dok Leipzig DOK Leipzig is a documentary film festival that takes place every year in Leipzig, Germany. It is an international film festival for documentary and animated film founded in 1955 under the name "1st All-German Leipzig Festival of Cultural and Doc ...

festival in October.Jonathan Romney
"‘Downstream To Kinshasa’: DOK Leipzig Review (Cannes Label)"
''

'', October 27, 2020.

References

External links

* 2020 films 2020 documentary films Democratic Republic of the Congo documentary films Documentary films about the Democratic Republic of the Congo {{DRCongo-film-stub