L'Escale (The Stopover)

synopsis

Filmmakers Paul Shemisi and Nizar Saleh travel from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Germany for the screening of their new film. During a layover in Angola, they’re stopped at the airport because the airline doesn’t trust their documents to be real. While Paul and Nizar think they are being led to a hotel, where they would stay until their flight back home , they are actually being taken to an illegal detention center. The filmmakers’ testimony – which offers an eye-opening insight into the impossibility of safe and carefree travel for many Congolese artists – stands in stark contrast with the seemingly peaceful images of cloud formations passing by an airplane window.

about the collective

Collectif Faire-Part is an ensemble of Belgian and Congolese artists. Together they want to tell new stories about Kinshasa, about Brussels and the many complex relationships in between. In addition to their collective practice, they try to support each other in their personal artistic projects.

The group was founded by filmmakers Anne Reijniers, Paul Shemisi, Nizar Saleh and Rob Jacobs when they started working together in 2016. Over the past few years, the collective of four has evolved into a larger group of regular collaborators in Belgium and the DR Congo, with the composition of the team changing with each project. In addition to filmmaking, they take photographs, curate programs, give workshops, and organize a biennial performance festival called SOKL. Stephanie Collingwoode Williams, who co-curated and co-organized the last two editions of SOKL, joined the group in 2021 and has since taken the festival and the collective in beautiful new directions.