This Is Congo
{{short description|2017 documentary film}}
{{Infobox film
| name = This Is Congo
| image = This Is Congo poster.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| director = Daniel McCabe
| producer = {{Plainlist|
- Geoff McLean
- Daniel McCabe
- Alyse Ardell Spiegel
}}
| writer =
| starring =
| music = {{Plainlist|
- Johnny Klimek
- Gabriel Mounsey }}
| cinematography =
| editing = Alyse Ardell Spiegel
| studio = {{Plainlist|
- Turbo/Vision Film Company
- T-Dog Productions
- Sabotage Films
- Thought Engine
}}
| distributor = Dogwoof
| released = {{Film date|2017|9|1|Venice Film Festival}}
| runtime = 92 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English, French, Swahili, Lingala
| budget =
| gross =
}}
This Is Congo is a 2017 documentary film by American filmmaker and photographer Daniel McCabe. It was distributed by Dogwoof and produced by Turbo/Vision Film Company, T-Dog Productions, Sabotage Films and Thought Engine. The film features a voice over by Ivorian actor Isaach de Bankolé. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival as an out of competition title, and had a screening at TIFF Bell Lightbox in April 2018.
Reception
This Is Congo received positive reviews from film critics. Cath Clarke of The Guardian rated it 3 stars out of 5, saying it is "a long read about the humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo".{{cite web |author1=Cath Clarke |title=This Is Congo review – distressing story of a humanitarian crisis |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/may/25/this-is-congo-review-documentary-daniel-mccabe |publisher=The Guardian |accessdate=3 October 2019 |date=25 May 2018}} Clarke also said its potted history will "frustrate experts as superficial". In a review for The New York Times, Ben Kenigsberg said the film provides a lot to admire and that the "sheer scope of the subject matter might be even better served by the capaciousness of a mini-series".{{cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/28/movies/review-in-this-is-congo-lives-in-conflict.html | title=Review: In 'This Is Congo,' Four Lives Shaken by Conflict | work=The New York Times | date=June 28, 2018 | accessdate=October 3, 2019 | author=Kenigsberg, Ben}} Los Angeles Times writer Gary Goldstein described it as "vivid" and "immersive", noting its characters "provide a haunting window into a deeply anarchic world too-rarely glimpsed".{{cite web |author1=Gary Goldstein |title=Review: Documentary 'This Is Congo' views war-torn African nation through four lives |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-capsule-this-is-congo-review-20180628-story.html |work=LA Times |accessdate=3 October 2019 |date=June 28, 2018}} Guy Lodge of Variety magazine said the film "excels when trading in details that can't be more substantively gleaned from written history and journalism."{{cite web |author1=Guy Lodge |title=Film Review: 'This Is Congo' |url=https://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/this-is-congo-review-1202565474/ |publisher=Variety |accessdate=6 October 2019 |date=September 21, 2017}}
Boyd Hoeij of The Hollywood Reporter applauded the film's combat scenes, but criticized McCabe for "omitting things that are equally important for an understanding of the Kivu Conflict".{{cite web |author1=Boyd van Hoeij |title='This Is Congo': Film Review |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/is-congo-1034313 |publisher=The Hollywood Reporter |accessdate=6 October 2019 |date=September 1, 2017}} Ed Potton of The Sunday Times awarded the film 3 stars out of 5, describing it as "hard-hitting and often harrowing".{{cite web |author1=Ed Putton |title=Film review: This is Congo |url=https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/article/film-review-this-is-congo-23w0xqbgc |publisher=The Sunday Times |access-date=6 October 2019 |date=May 25, 2018}} The New Yorker{{'}}s Peter Canby said the film "covers a specific episode of the country's more general violence".{{cite web |author1=Peter Canby |title="This Is Congo" and the Ongoing Despair in the Democratic Republic of the Congo |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/this-is-congo-and-the-ongoing-despair-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo |publisher=The New Yorker |accessdate=6 October 2019 |date=July 12, 2018}} In addition, Canby highlighted the character Colonel Ndala as the standout among the four characters. In a review for Point of View magazine, Pat Mullen said the film "works viscerally and has a great impact at an emotional level" and that McCabe "implores audiences to bear witness to crimes to which previous generations turned a blind eye".{{cite web |author1=Pat Mullen |title=Review: 'This is Congo' |url=http://povmagazine.com/articles/view/review-this-is-congo |publisher=Point of View |accessdate=6 October 2019 |date=April 20, 2018}} Alan Scherstuhl of The Village Voice described the film's footage as "harrowing, raw and intimate".{{cite web |author1=Alan Scherstuhl |title=The Searing "This Is Congo" Embeds Us in a Nation's Terrifying Normal |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2018/06/26/the-searing-this-is-congo-embeds-us-in-a-nations-terrifying-normal/ |publisher=The Village Voice |accessdate=6 October 2019 |date=June 26, 2018}}
The Financial Times writer Nigel Andrews granted the film 3 stars out of 5, saying McCabe's multiple portraiture "enthral".{{cite web |author1=Nigel Andrews |title=This Is Congo — mercilessly illuminating |url=https://www.ft.com/content/fba1f794-5e7e-11e8-9334-2218e7146b04 |publisher=Financial Times |accessdate=6 October 2019 |date=May 23, 2018}} L. Kent Wolgamott of Lincoln Journal Star said the film tells the war-torn story of the DRC through "the testimony of four people, vintage news clips and raw, riveting footage from the battlefields and displaced person camps".{{cite web |author1=L. Kent Wolgamott |title='This Is Congo' movie review: Documentary looks at devastation of the war-torn country |url=https://journalstar.com/entertainment/movies/this-is-congo-movie-review-documentary-looks-at-devastation-of/article_7a5e3e18-408f-5f3a-91e3-15bd886efbc5.html |publisher=Lincoln Journal Star |accessdate=6 October 2019 |date=August 22, 2018}} In The London Economic, journalist Wyndham Hacket Pain opined that although the documentary "may tell a story that is familiar from new reports and articles, it has rarely been told in such a meditative and poetic manner."{{cite web |author1=Wyndham Hacket Pain |title=Film Review: This is Congo |url=https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/film/film-review-this-is-congo/25/05/ |publisher=The London Economic |accessdate=7 October 2019 |date=May 25, 2018}} David D'Arcy of Screen Daily commended McCabe for presenting the DRC story with a "grim element of surprise", but ended up saying the documentary's multiple perspectives "can feel lopsided".{{cite web |author1=David D'Arcy |title='This Is Congo': Venice Review |url=https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/this-is-congo-venice-review/5121857.article |publisher=Screen Daily |accessdate=7 October 2019 |date=31 August 2017}} Reviewing for International Policy Digest, David Ferguson said This Is Congo was "beautifully photographed, and perfectly captures the often stunning landscape between violent bursts of war and personal fright".{{cite web |author1=David Ferguson |title='This is Congo' Review |url=https://intpolicydigest.org/2018/06/29/this-is-congo-review/ |publisher=International Policy Digest |accessdate=7 October 2019 |date=29 June 2019}}
Accolades
| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;" |
| style="background:#ccc; text-align:center;"
! Award ! Category ! Recipients and nominees ! Outcome !Ref |
| Global Cinema Film Festival
|Best Film Editing |This Is Congo |{{won}} |