Deeply impressed by the music of Congolese collective Kasai Allstars, French-Senegalese director Alain Gomis drew inspiration from their music, and from the voice and character of their singer Muambuyi to write and direct his new fiction movie, entitled Félicité. The film’s eponymous protagonist is a proud, free-willed woman who sets out on a breakneck race through the streets of electric Kinshasa to save her son. Her profession: singer with Kasai Allstars!
The band wrote and performed most of the soundtrack, and appears onscreen playing their own part. Muambuyi’s voice is omnipresent, and is being heard every time Félicité (played by Congolese actress Vero Tshanda) sings in the bars of Kinshasa, backed by Kasai Allstars.
The film was presented in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival 2017, where it obtained the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize. Theatrical release in France & Belgium will take place in late March/early April, other countries will follow.
The Around Félicité album includes the film’s main pieces, performed by Kasai Allstars and by the Kinshasa Symphonic Orchestra (who specially arranged three works by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt), alongside new tracks by Kasai Allstars, as well as interludes consisting of fragments of dialogues and sound bites taken from the soundtrack.
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Side 1
1. Kasai Allstars - "Tshalemba" (5:00)
2. Kasai Allstars - "In Praise Of Homeboys" (3:49)
3. Kasai Allstars - "Kapinga Yamba" (5:01)
4. Orchestre Symphonique Kimbanguiste - "Sieben Magnificat-Antiphonen: O Immanuel" (5:28)
5. Kasai Allstars - "Lobelela" (5:40)
Side 2
1. Kasai Allstars - "Tshitua Fuila Mbuloba" (5:12)
2. Kasai Allstars - "Bilonda" (6:59)
3. Orchestre Symphonique Kimbanguiste - "My Heart's In Highlands" (6:43)
4. Kasai Allstars - "Quick As White" (7:03)
Side 3
1. Kasai Allstars - "Mabela" (12:50)
2. Orchestre Symphonique Kimbanguiste - "Fratres" (10:38)
Side 4
1. Kasai Allstars - "Quick As White" (Clap! Clap! remix) (3:41)
2. Kasai Allstars - "In Praise Of Homeboys" (Africaine 808 remix) (5:41)
3. Kasai Allstars - "Drowning Goat" (Daedelus remix) (3:48)
4. Kasai Allstars - "Salute To Kalombo" (Ekiti Sound System remix) (3:42)
5. Kasai Allstars - "Felicite Three" (RAMZi remix) (3:39)