A film that visits Kinshasa at a time when the Democratic Republic of Congo, in general, and the city, in particular, are in turmoil. The focus of the film is the construction of a power plant, while the city is struggling to access electricity and the nights are, metaphorically and otherwise, much darker. What comes to the fore is both the nonconformity and the resistance of this population, often through the strength of faith.
How, specifically, do we film the absence of light? Rising Up at Night is something of a challenge and a unique immersive experience. Makengo films discussions against the light, with silhouettes appearing on the screen. This is sometimes just a black screen. But it is also a film about light, even if it is fragile and flickering. The one with the lanterns pointed at the skull as if the city were in the heart of a cave. But also more surprising lights: artificial ones from street garlands, multicoloured tiaras. It’s the fireworks that appear, the lightning that cuts across the sky. “Joy is brought by light,” we hear during a sermon, and the search for light truly becomes a divine matter.
Rising Up at Night is about how we live and how we survive. Like living in a disaster movie, when floods increase misfortune. How do we demonstrate an impressive vital force? What can we see under the starry sky? What do the first blue mornings reveal? Everyday life takes its course and if, implicitly, the film says something political, it is never expressed head on. (Michaël Gaspar)
