This episode of Congolive looks into the career of Belgian filmmaker Kristof Bilsen and his journey into making a film on the Congo.

Bio
Kristof Bilsen (director/DOP/producer) completed a filmmaking BA in Brussels and his Masters at the National Film & TV School (UK). Aside his film practice, he works as cinematographer, editor and director for the performing arts and collaborated in the past with directors such as Peter Missotten, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Meg Stuart. His first film THREE WOMEN (about female detainees in a Belgian prison) was shortlisted for the Henri Storck Prize and shown twice on Belgian National Television. He also made the short documentary Fez-return-ticket, about a mixed marriage in Morocco before beginning his Masters at the National Film and Television School. He also completed the short Werner Herzog Film Course in Los Angeles and attended the Berlinale Talent Campus 2012. ELEPHANT'S DREAM, his first feature film, is a co-production with Limerick Films, Associate directors, Man's Films and RTBF and is currently traveling festivals worldwide. Overall, his work screened at more then 50 festivals worldwide (IDFA, DOK Leipzig, Hot Docs, Margaret Mead, Thessaloniki, a.o.) and won several awards, such as the Nanook/Jean Rouch Grand Prize in Paris. Along with his film practice, he is one of the 8 founding members of Kitchen Sink collective and also runs his boutique company Limerick Films

Kristof Bilsen: Making the Elephant's Dream

Congolive is a weekly radio show, providing listeners with views and news from the richest and mostly forgotten country in the heart of Africa showcasing the cultural strengths and beauty of Congolese people revealing the richness of the land and its people.

The show is aired on WOL Baltimore, every saturday (1 pm Central, 2 pm Eastern - US time). It is hosted by Patricia Lokwa and Kambale Musavuli. #CongoLive.

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Long time Congolese opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi Wa Mulumba passed away on Wednesday, February 1st at the age of 84. The congolive team produced a show to help our listener know who he was.

Our guest, Dr. Nzongola Ntalaja, a professor of African, African-American, and diaspora studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a professor emeritus of African studies at Howard university, served as a diplomatic advisor to Tshisekedi when he was a prime minister in the 90s. He shared with us what impact Tshisekedi had on Congolese politics over the decades.

Tshisekedi was born on December 14, 1932 in Kananga, formerly Kasai-Occidental. He obtained a doctorate in Law in 1961 from the Lovanium University in Kinshasa. He was the first Congolese to receive such a degree.

When Mobutu took over in a coup in 1965, Etienne Tshisekedi joined his government as Minister of Interior. It was shortly after this period on June 2, 1966 where the four Pentecost martyrs were publicly hung by the state for plotting to overthrow the regime. 

Tshisekedi later played a key role in drafting the original documents of Mobutu's single party state enshrined in the Popular Movement for the Revolution - MPR in French. He served Mobutu and the MPR faithfully until 1980 when he and 12 others spoke out openly about the ravages of the dictatorial Mobutu regime. This initial outspokenness would presage the founding of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress, UDPS in French in 1982. Thus began his non-violent struggle for democracy and the rule of law. He courageously confronted Mobutu and paid a deer price with jailing, beatings, house arrests and internal exile.

By the early 1990s, Etienne Tshisekedi firmly ensconced as leader of the opposition to Mobutu, served a brief stint as Prime Minister, which came about as a result of pressure on the Mobutu regime by the non-violent, pro-democracy forces. Just as he resisted Mobutu, Etienne Tshisekedi would later resist both Laurent Desire Kabila and his son Joseph Kabila. Although he boycotted the 2006 elections, he ran for President in 2011. Joseph Kabila claimed victory in the fraudulent elections. Tshisekedi refused to recognize Kabila as president and swore himself in, unfortunately to little effect. 

Following the 2011 elections, Tshisekedi was subject to extended illness that saw him spending most of the time in Belgium. In July 2016, he returned to Kinshasa after having unified opposition forces to resist Kabila's efforts to remain in power in contravention to the Constitution that required him to step down.

His final major contribution as leader of the loyal opposition was to join with the Catholic Church to broker a deal between the Kabila regime and the opposition on December 31, 2016 that called for elections to be organized in 2017 and Kabila to step down upon the election of a new President.

His overriding legacy will be a fight for democracy and rule of law through non-violent means.

Remembering Étienne Tshisekedi

On this episode of Congo Live, US Special Envoy Tom Perriello joined us to discuss his work as an envoy for the past 18 months and some anecdotal stories on his experience in central Africa. We will also discuss U.S. policy in the region, respect for constitutions, and opening of political space in the Great Lakes region in Africa and beyond. With the new US administration, his term is coming to an end.

Bio
Tom Perriello is the Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa, appointed by Secretary of State John Kerry on July 6, 2015. Prior to this role, he served as Special Representative for the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review for the U.S. Department of State.

Mr. Perriello previously served as a Congressman from Virginia, Special Advisor to the Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, a conflict analyst, and CEO of Center for American Progress Action. He has worked and conducted research in a dozen countries and taught courses on transitional justice at the University of Virginia School of Law and University of Sierra Leone.

Mr. Perriello was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia’s Fifth District in 2008. He served on the Veterans Affairs Committee and received distinguished marks from the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Association. He was a founding member of Leader Hoyer’s National Security Working Group, and received the Truman National Security Project’s annual award for wise leadership on foreign policy. He also advocated strongly for a national energy and climate strategy.

Outside of government, Mr. Perriello has co-founded and managed justice entrepreneurship platforms and faith-based organizations advancing human rights, poverty reduction and sustainability. He supported the peace processes in Sierra Leone and Darfur and has conducted periodic research in Afghanistan on justice and security. Since early 2011, he has conducted field research and analysis on reformist movements and leaders in Egypt and the Middle East independently and as Counselor for Policy to the Center for American Progress.

He is from Charlottesville, VA, and is a graduate of Yale University and Yale Law School.

Tom Perriello – Prospect for Peace and Stability in the Congo

Our #CongoLive guest for this episode is Samuel Yagase, a community leader in Isangi, a town northeast of Congo. He shared with us how his community is organized for self-sufficiency right in the heart of Africa.

This show aired on December 10, 2016.

Bio
Samuel Yagase is a key player in mobilizing rural communities for local development mainly in Tolaw, Isangi Territory, Orientale Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

He is the founder of the the organization GOVA (Group of Village Organizations for Self- development ) that works on promoting local initiatives and leadership. He is very committed to improving matters related to local governance in the DRC.  He is interested in fighting against injustice (especially traditional customs that discriminate against women) and fighting for the promotion of human rights.

He works on promoting dialogue and collaboration between the two medicines (Traditional and Modern ). He is the initiator of the Solidarity Fund for the fight against sleeping sickness in Isangi. For Samuel, development aid has virtually failed. It is in the process of reviewing, with his group, the perception of aid by paying more attention to local assets, helping the population to be the masters of its situation by mastering its agenda that Samuel sees lasting solutions for change in the DRC.

Samuel Yagase: Building Self-Sufficient Communities

This episode had as a guest Ms. Ndona Nkembi Nyomo, the President and Founder of Festival Congo, Inc. She shared with #CongoLive hosts and listeners her career in the financial sector, her passion for the arts, her perspective on the role of women in the transformation of Congo and also the work she is doing for the Congo Festival which takes place in Atlanta this Summer.

This show aired on June 4, 2016

Bio
Ndona is a surrealist artist, and writer with a background in finance, investment translation, and sales. A licensed stock broker, who holds both the FINRA Series 7, and Series 63 brokers licenses, Ndona has worked in the investment industry for 10 years in New York, NY, and Toronto, Ontario Canada, prior to relocating to Georgia in the summer of 2015.

With clients in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, she had the opportunity to use her diverse background, and language skills as leverage when educating clients on foreign, and domestic capital, and commodities markets.

Ndona has worked with such industry giants as Barclays, Black Rock, Citigroup, and most recently E*Trade. In addition, she has experience in mergers, and acquisitions, as well as financial proxy, where while employed at Computershare, she translated investment, and research documents for dissemination to the public.

With years of experience in sales and management, she has taken her knowledge of the investment markets, and love of education, and applied it to her passion for connecting individuals through what brings so many together, the arts.

The daughter of a jazz musician, and professor from Congo-Kinshasa, and an American mother who was a model, and dancer, Ndona grew up surrounded by what she refers to as the United Nations. Surrounded by artists, and professionals who spoke a multitude of languages, from diverse cultures, her view on the world was formed at an early age.

Kristof Bilsen: Making the Elephant's Dream

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