Film Screening - KATASUMBIKA

About the Film

KATASUMBIKA: The world was shocked to witness the people in eastern DR Congo demand the departure of the UN peacekeepers, even resorting to force. How can we understand this outrage toward a mission that is supposed to help the people? Through a testimonial approach, the film reflects on what has been left out of the frame in the colonial project and its legacy. By following the thread of history, the chain of natural resource extraction, and the vein of violence, will the sounds of indigenous resistance be heard?

About the Filmmaker 

Petna Ndaliko Katondolo belongs to the Yira circle. He is a descendant of the Basukali clan from the Masereka and Kitamiaka lands in the eastern part of the current Democratic Republic of Congo. As a Ndaliko (sacred space), he is a memorykeeper and a storyteller with the spirit of kinship of the elephant. He is also an award-winning filmmaker, activist, and educator. His multi-genre artistic works are acclaimed for their Africanfuturist decolonial artistic style, which draws on historical content to address contemporary socio-political and cultural issues. He founded Yole! Africa, a center for social innovation through art and the Ecological Encounter Ishango, formerly known as the Salaam Kivu International Film Festival. Ndaliko Katondolo regularly teaches and advises international organizations, addressing contemporary socio-political and cultural issues.

Director’s Note

Where is the end of this loop?

Surrounding sound: cobalt, coltan, copper.

The need for technology fuels technological

advancement, birthing a demand for 4K live

feeds to watch destroyed cities, destroyed

lands, destroyed living beings, and

destroyed Kihuwo.

while survivors flee war zones,

finding refuge in camps encircled by military

artillery bases

that unleash fire upon opposition sites.

Montagne du Kivu - Gaza - Kaza - Goma – the

beauty of the Kivu regions - Goma

Without listening, speech is hollow,

stripped of power, bereft of essence.

But if all words were to cease,

the art of listening would still bloom,

a vivid flower in the silence.

Listening engages, interprets, responds –

a dance with the multitude of inputs,

alive in the biosphere’s symphony of prise

de parole.

Sound is not just heard;

it is felt, embraced,

vibrations weaving through living flesh,

resonating within our being.

To listen deeply is to enter this field,

to become one with the waves,

a participant in the cosmic resonance.

So are you listening? Congo - cobalt -

copper- coltan!

Where is the end of this loop?