''Viva Riva!'' is a 2010 Congolese

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

thriller film written and directed by

Djo Tunda Wa Munga Djo Tunda Wa Munga (born 1972) is a Congolese film director and producer. For his 2010 thriller movie ''Viva Riva!'' he won the award for ''Best Director'' at the African Movie Academy Awards in 2011. ''Viva Riva!'' also won at the 2011 MTV Movi ...

. Starring

Patsha Bay Patsha Bay is a Congolese actor and singer notable for ''Viva Riva!'' (2010) and ''Of Sentimental Value'' (2016). Career Patasha Bay played a leading role in the critically acclaimed ''Viva Riva!'', directed by Djo Tunda wa Munga in 2010, w ...

, Manie Malone, Fabrice Kwizera,

Hoji Fortuna Hoji Ya Henda Braga Fortuna (born 4 September 1974) is an Angolan actor. Born in Luanda and named after war hero Hoji-ya-Henda, Fortuna emigrated to Portugal at the age of 20. He worked as a model and DJ in parallel to his study of law at the Ca ...

, Marlene Longage, Alex Herabo & Diplôme Amekindra, the film received 12 nominations and won 6 awards at the

7th Africa Movie Academy Awards The 7th Africa Movie Academy Awards ceremony was held on 27 March 2011 at the Gloryland Cultural Center in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria, to honor the best African films of 2010. The nomination ceremony was held at the Ole Sereni Hotel in Nairob ...

. This includes the awards for ''Best Picture'', ''Best Director'', ''Best Cinematography'' & ''Best Production Design'', a feat that made it the highest winning film in the history of the

AMAA The Africa Movie Academy Awards, popularly known as AMAA and The AMA Awards, is presented annually to recognize excellence among professionals working in, or non-African professionals who have contributed to, the African film industry. It was fou ...

's till date. ''Viva Riva!'' also won at the 2011

MTV Movie Awards The MTV Movie & TV Awards (formerly the MTV Movie Awards) is a film and television awards show presented annually on MTV. The first MTV Movie Awards were presented in 1992. The ceremony was renamed the MTV Movie & TV Awards for its 26th editi ...

for Best African Movie.

Plot

The film follows a fuel smuggler, Riva, after he brings a fuel shipment into

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 ...

. Riva is pursued by an Angolan gangster, Cesar, who wants the fuel. Cesar uses blackmail to gain the help of a local military officer, the Commandant, who then accesses a local informant and church resources to aid Cesar's search. Meanwhile, Riva falls for Nora, the partner of a local gangster, Azor. Riva gains the trust of a local boy and uses his help to find Nora again. The conflicts turn out to be deadly for almost all the main characters.

Cast

- Riva * Manie Malone - Nora *

- Cesar * Fabrice Kwizera - Jason * Marlene Longage - The Commandant * Alex Herabo * Diplôme Amekindra

Reception

Reviews have been very positive. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

it has an approval rating of 87% based on reviews from 60 critics. The site's consensus states: "Vibrant and violent, Viva Riva is a stylish, fast-paced crime drama.". On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

it has a score of 65% based on 16 reviews.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Viva Riva 2010 films 2010 crime thriller films Democratic Republic of the Congo drama films 2010s French-language films Lingala-language films Best Film Africa Movie Academy Award winners Films set in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Films shot in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Best Cinematography Africa Movie Academy Award winners Best Production Design Africa Movie Academy Award winners African crime films