photo: Courtesy of the Artist
Tuesday, October 16, 2012 at 7:30PM (Justice for Sale)
Maysles Cinema – New York, NY
Thursday, October 18, 2012 at 7:30PM (Episode III: Enjoy Poverty)
Maysles Cinema – New York, NY
Maysles Cinema, Friends of the Congo, and True-Walker Productions present Congo in Harlem 4, the fourth annual series of Congo-related films and events at the Maysles Cinema in New Yorkʼs historic Harlem neighborhood. Congo in Harlem showcases innovative work that celebrates Congolese culture, raises awareness about the Democratic Republic of Congoʼs challenges, provokes dialogue, and encourages community engagement.
In Episode III: Enjoy Poverty, Dutch artist Renzo Martens asserts that the greatest natural resource in Congo — a country that has received billions of dollars in foreign aid — is poverty. Employing a provocative mix of satire, investigative journalism, and personal diary, Martens embarks on a visionary quest to awaken the Congolese people to the value of their poverty. Sometimes humorous, often troubling, always sharp Enjoy Poverty presents an incisive parable on western guilt, exploitation, and the international aid complex. The screening will be followed by a discussion with filmmaker Renzo Martens, moderated by Megan Eardley (Africa is a Country blog).
Justice for Sale, directed by Ilse and Femke van Velsen, is the third installment of a trilogy investigating sexual violence in Congo, follows Claudine Tsongo, a young human rights lawyer fighting to acquit a Congolese soldier accused of rape. Claudine and the filmmakers gather testimony from an array of experts and witnesses, and present a compelling case for the soldierʼs innocence. But the miscarriage of justice they uncover in the process reveals a corrupted Congolese legal system, where nobody is innocent.
Watch the trailer of Episode III: Enjoy Poverty here
