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Felicite
In the back of a crowded, rowdy club in the back streets of Kinshasa, you’ll find Félicité (Véro Tshanda Beya Mputu) singing her heart out, providing a soulful-groove serenade to the dance-floor flirting and bar fights started by her handyman boyfriend Tabu (Papi Mpaka). Their routine is shattered, however, when her teenage son is seriously injured in a car accident. Félicité races around town trying to raise money for his operation; when she fails to get enough cash in time, the songbird begins to lose her voice—and her sanity. Franco-Sengalese filmmaker Alain Gomis (Tey, MVFF 2012) crafts an incredible story of maternal endurance, driven by a vibrant soundtrack featuring everything from the Kasai Allstars’ rump-shaking Afro-pop to the city’s real-life church choirs, and orchestras. And in singer-turned-actress Mputu, he’s found a first-rate performer capable of breaking your heart with a glance or lifting you heavenward with a single transcendent note.
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