Kafka au Congo this film will be shown again on Tuesday 20:00 in the Salle Communale
The wheels of justice turn very slowly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, very slowly indeed, particularly for Gorette Mawazu who has resorted to jurisdiction to evict a squatter on her land. She has been trying for 15 years.
At the start of the film we see Gorette having her shoes polished outside the court room before going inside to have her case heard. What follows is an instant entry to another world, watching this film from the well ordered, organised life of Switzerland, we are thrown in the chaos of a Congoloese courtroom, we hear all the noises of life inside and out as we watch the postponement of cases, documents produced from worn and tatty files, seemingly indifferent or apathetic court clerks and judges, files lost, lawyers deliberately misrepresentating facts. Kafkaesque indeed.
When Gorette is back at home her daughter ask her; “Why it taking so long Mum, why do they hate you?” “It’s not hate daughter”, she says, “It’s about money. The longer the case drags on, the more money the lawyers and everyone else can get out of me.”
We have already seen her pay a deposit of 20 dollars to a court clerk to enable the judges to visit the land in question. No receipt is given to her even though she ask for one. It’s not suprising that the visit never materialises and she never sees her money again. You can only assume that this kind of thing has happened before, many times.
There is a phrase that goes “pot calling the kettle black”, meaning we can’t really criticise others before we look at our own mistakes. So for a British person to comment on the corruption particularly amongst the politicians that is seen in “Kafka au Congo” would indeed be a like a pot calling a kettle very black in the light of the expenses scandal amongst some members of parliament in Britain. However, the sheer amount of corruption that goes on in society in ths film, from the bribery in the courts to bribery in electioneering is astonishing. What is even more astonishing is that it all happens so blatantly in front of the cameras.
This excellent documentary, like many films at this festival immerses us in the life of others abroad and here often in humorous scenes. From the small minutaie of daily village living; the monkey painstakingly picking the fleas out of a pet dog, to the frequent power cuts back in Kinshasa. Then there is the sight of a sports programme on TV blaring away in a minister’s office during meetings, his brother in law coming to him to ask for money to pay for his daughter’s wedding. Later on in the countryside, the repeated scenes of a minister putting his hand into the inside pocket of his smart suit to give out dollars to villagers (many of them barefoot) before getting into his 4 x 4 car are all very telling and speak for themselves.
When Gorette the main protogonist in the film goes to a tribal leader to find a different way of solving her legal problem, she asks for his advice. He says; ” There are three ways of doing this, the legal way, the amicable way and the ancestral way”.
She continues with the legal way and during the course of filming we see the final verdict after 15 years of legal action. As this film is being shown again on Tuesday at 20:00 at the Salle Communale. I won’t reveal whether Gorette wins her case. Go see for yourself. A superb documentary.
Adela says
Very interesting way of showing ordinary scenes of life in Congo