Makala

Makala means "charcoal" in Swahili, one of the dialects spoken in The Democratic Republic of Kongo. This is where we meet Kabwita Kasongo, a young man trying to support his family by producing and selling charcoal. This beautiful documentary is a study in hard labour, and the director’s camera dwells around the struggle between man and nature. As audience, we come undistractedly close to the Kasongo family who, with admirable endurance, strive through life. We want them to succeed, to be able to build a house for themselves, but the road to happiness seems unbearably long, and we know that there are so many others like Kabwita who can barely make a living.

Save a few stolen looks into the camera, Makala would be easy to confuse with a well written fictional drama.

Emmanuel Gras (b. 1976) is a French cinematographer and documentary filmmaker. Makala, his third documentary, screened at the Cannes film festival in 2017.