PRESS KIT

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ENGLISH

FRENCH

SPANISH

PHOTOS

HIGH RES - FILM STILLS

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Kinshasa Sunset
Sunset on the Congo river.
Dr. Nico leading the African Fiesta Sukisa orchestra.
Papa Bikunda (left) and Paul Mwanga performing.
Congolese women enjoying music in a Leópoldville bar.
Maproco cranking a Gramophone.
Roitelet playing double bass.
African Jazz orchestra in Brussels in January 1960.
Papa Bikunda tuning his guitar.
Kuka Mathieu (right) and Yossa Taluki receive a warm ovation.
Franco and his OK Jazz orchestra live at Zaire 1974.
Mi Solo guitar demonstration. From left to right: Yossa Taluki, Pepe Felly Manuaku and Guvano.
Wewando Bombenga dancing with a friend.

HIGH RES - PROMOTIONAL PHOTOS

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Left to right: Maproco, Alan Brain and Fracasseur.
The Rumba Kings director, Alan Brain
Alan Brain interviewing Kuka Mathieu in Kinshasa.
Alan Brain filming in Kinshasa.
Kuka Mathieu (left) and Papa Bikunda in a pirogue.
Left to right: Fracasseur, Alan Brain, Aime Bassay, Bikunda and a friend.
The Rumba Kings director, Alan Brain
Clement Ossinonde during his interview in Rabat.
Manda Tchebwa and Alan Brain
Manda Tchebwa and Alan Brain with vinyl records.
Kuka Mathieu Interview Cameras - Kinshasa
Kuka Mathieu being interviewed in Kinshasa.
Manda Tchebwa
Manda Tchebwa with the Independance Cha Cha record.
Manda Tchebwa and Alan Brain in Rabat.

POSTERS

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8.5x12 (300 DPI)

27x40 (300 DPI)

ARTICLES AND REVIEWS

WOMAD Gran Canaria, una muestra de cine africano

What makes a great music documentary?

AMAA 2022: Nigeria leads with eight awards

AMAA 2022: Full list of winners

“The Rumba Kings” ouvre la quatrième édition du festival vision documentaire

Un film sur l’identité culturelle ouvre la 4ème édition du Vision Documentaire

Afrikaldia Festival de Cines Africanos, llega a su última jornada

The Rumba Kings, el documental más premiado del cine peruano

Documental de realizador peruano en el Salón del Libro en Marruecos

The Rumba Kings en El Festival de Cine Africano en Tarifa

El Festival de Cine Africano desembarca en Ceuta

"The Rumba Kings": Extraordinario documento musical e histórico

Grandes títulos del cine africano se dan cita en Ceuta

Tim Harding reflects on The Rumba Kings

The Rumba Kings

The Rumba Kings in Doc N Roll

Alan Brain dans TV5MONDE, le journal Afrique

La rumba congolaise mise à l'honneur au festival Fame.

Rumba et théâtre à Paris

Wendo Kolosoy, pionnier de la rumba congolaise

Du cinéma avec le festival FAME

The Rumba Kings - La Chronique d'Aline Afanoukoé

Le FAME met la rumba congolaise à l'honneur pour sa 8e édition

Ces rois de la rumba qui ont galvanisé le Congo.

"The Rumba Kings", film hommage à la rumba congolaise.

Un Documentaire revient sur l’âge d’or de la rumba congolaise.

Le Congo, un pays qui se danse au festival Black Movie

The “real treasure” of the Congo finally on the Unesco list

Best Music Documentary of 2021: The Rumba Kings

The world on screen: the best movies from Africa, Asia and Latin America

Un documental explora cómo los ritmos latinos sedujeron a los congoleños

Entrevista a Alan Brain, director del documental “The Rumba Kings”

The Rumba Kings, l’âge d’or de la rumba congolaise porté au cinéma

Maui Film Festival Plans Safe Return

Latinx and Latin American Films at DOC NYC

About The Rumba Kings documentary film

Jolly Papa & Georges Collinet interview the director of "The Rumba Kings"

Cannes, you dig it?

The Rumba Kings, music from the film

DOC NYC: “The Rumba Kings”, documental del peruano Alan Brain

I couldn't have made this film if I wasn't Latino

The Rumba Kings remporte le prix au 18ème Festival panafricain de Cannes

"The Rumba Kings" documentary explores the golden age of Congolese rumba

Alan Brain, director peruano estrena documental The Rumba Kings

"The Rumba Kings" : un documentaire sur les origines de la rumba congolaise

Jorge Enrique Gonzales, director of Seattle Latino Film Festival, mentions The Rumba Kings film in Kiro 7 Tv Seattle TV Station

Nari Weaver, Executive Director of Development of the Seattle Latino recommends The Rumba Kings film

The Rumba Kings: A Sydney Film Festival Must See

The Rumba Kings film arrives to Montreal

The Rumba Kings Audience Award winner in Musical Ecran Film Festival

4 Films Not to Miss in the Musical Ecran Film Festival

The Rumba Kings, Film Review

The Rumba Kings, Documentary Review

Review of The Rumba Kings, a film by Alan Brain

Review of The Rumba Kings, a film by Alan Brain

La Rumba Congoleña

Teranga Beat with Adamantios Kafetzis - The Rumba Kings with Alan Brain (Part 2)

La rumba congoleña pide ser patrimonio de la humanidad

The Rumba Kings, La Gran Leyenda del Congo

Teranga Beat with Adamantios Kafetzis - The Rumba Kings with Alan Brain (Part 1)

Festival DOXA: le film documentaire The Rumba Kings avec Marc Fournier et Jacques Dufresne

Tour Savoir Sur La Rumba Congolaise avec Mireille Langlois et Marc Fournier

Culture Club avec Mireille Langlois - The Rumba Kings

"Ce long métrage est certainement celui que tous les amoureux de musique attendaient depuis longtemps. "

"Rock lover Alan Brain shows that the music of the world is vast with The Rumba Kings"

"The one (film) that all you music lovers have been waiting for."

"The best film about Congolese rumba to appear yet."

"Hold the social issue films for a while and take this breezy musical tour."

Interview with The Rumba Kings director Alan Brain (French)

"The Rumba Kings explores the true wealth of the Congo, which is its music."

"The Rumba Kings, music is the true wealth of the Congo" (Spanish)

"The links between Africa and Cuba" (French)

Interview with The Rumba Kings director Alan Brain in the "Ambiance Congo"' radio show.

SYNOPSYS

SHORT SYNOPSIS

The Rumba Kings celebrates the epic quest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, an African nation that fought colonial oppression, found freedom, and forged a new identity through music. In the 1950s, when the Democratic Republic of the Congo was a Belgian colony, a generation of Congolese musicians fused traditional African rhythms with Afro-Cuban music to create the electrifying beat of Congolese rumba. A beat that would carry Congo through its independence and conquer the entire African continent with its infectious groove, captivating guitar licks, and smooth vocals.

LONG SYNOPSIS

The Rumba Kings is a joyous exploration of the liberating power of music. In the 1950s, when the Democratic Republic of the Congo was still under harsh Belgian rule, a generation of Congolese musicians decided to use popular music to fight colonial oppression. They fused traditional African rhythms with Afro-Cuban music to create the musical genre known as Congolese rumba, an infectious groove that provided a space of freedom and resistance against the cruelty and humiliation that the Congolese were facing in subjugation.

After its birth, the electrifying Congolese rumba beat never stopped. Congolese rumba carried the country through its quest for independence, producing the most famous African independence anthem ever created, conquering the entire continent with its captivating guitar sounds, and forging the identity of an entire nation.

On one level, The Rumba Kings is the stunning story of how the Congolese rumba sound developed and later conquered Africa. On another level, the film is an emotional statement about how music can break barriers, heal wounds, and bring hope.

Through original interviews, music recordings, archival footage, and never-before-seen live music performances, The Rumba Kings is the journey of the sound that shaped a nation and gave Africa its own musical stars such as Franco Luambo and the OK Jazz orchestra, or Grand Kalle and Dr. Nico and the African Jazz orchestra, who were as popular across Africa as any famous western rock band.

From the boat mechanic, Wendo Kolosoy, singing in villages along the Congo river, to Jhimmy making the bustling capital dance with his innovative guitar licks, to Grand Kalle and the African Jazz mesmerizing audiences in Europe, or the OK Jazz orchestra touring across the continent of Africa, the Rumba Kings explores the mostly ignored side of a country that has been historically associated with wars, poverty, and its vast mineral wealth.

Sit back, press play, pump up the volume and meet The Rumba Kings. Because Congo’s real treasure does not lie underground.

SOCIAL MEDIA