There should be more films like this visceral film noir gangster thriller set in Kinshasa.  All the right elements are there – the small time crook, the troubled girl who gets our guy in even more trouble, and the suave suited up gangster out for the loot, spilling as much blood along the way as possible. Riva (played by R&B singer Patsha Bay Mukuna) takes us through the derelict and pulsating streets of the Congolese capital.

It’s a nonstop thriller that sheds light on Kinshasa’s urban contradictions and corruption while steering clear of big political lectures. Everyone’s hands are greased – and that’s just how Riva makes a living. The film breaks all sorts of barriers and taboos. There’s fleshy sex, bloody battles, fiery explosions and of course childhood flashbacks that make you want to chat to the characters, or at least get them to therapy. Afripopmag spoke to the director Jo Tunda Wa Munga. 

AfriPOP!: Viva Riva has been showered with several awards. What’s the experience been like for the film and your career?

Djo Tunda Wa Munga: The film has been received really well in Europe and America.  The recognition from the LA Pan African Movie Awards is great. That was a stamp of quality from black intellectuals. And then to be recognised in Africa – not many films are about the Congo and even less of them are made in the Congo. And then that was held in Nigeria so for a Congolese film to get that sort of recognition has been good, and it was with a gangster film. And the of course the MTV award was great too. I used to be a viewer of MTV when I was younger so that was amazing. All of this has been like a fairytale.

This is the first film shot in the Congo in 25 years? How did you do it?

We had circumstances in Congo that didn’t make it an environment to work so many of our filmmakers were abroad. As a filmmaker I feel like I have a responsibility to tell the story of the place. I worked at it everyday. I focused on what I had to do. And it became like a big corporation – with the actors, the crew, we were all like partners. It’s about developing trust with everyone who is working on it.

I think it’s important to show the history and the culture of the Congolese people in the film. It was something that was important to all of us in the film and that was a common adventure and it was wonderful.

And it’s the first film on record to be shot in Lingala, the widest spoken language in the DRC. Was that a huge hurdle to clear?

Filming in Lingala was not a challenge for me. I believe in Congolese culture. It was more difficult for the actors, for them to become confident. They have the technique, they just had to become confident in the language.  We worked on it, and we went to Lingala theatre festivals and they became more confident. Also, most of the funding for the film comes from France and they are very open to the culture so it was not a challenge at all.

African films tend to focus on the harshest part of our realities, our colonial history, our struggles for independence and often wars. And then you turn all of that on its head and make a gangster thriller with a definite film noir narrative. Why did you choose to tell your story in this way?
I think the role of an artist is to focus on his roots and his identity. You want to reach a large number of people so you focus on yourself and what is universal in your culture. It is really important to focus on the strength of the place and to build characters that are as authentic as possible. Of course it’s a thriller – it’s a nice way to tell a story. But it’s also close to a documentary and that allows you to have the social commentary and to have a narrative is powerful.

Kinshasa is as much a character in the film as the title role of Riva, and the city is portrayed from the nightlife to the rampant corruption as throbbing with life.

The film is about Kinshasa. I wanted to get into the city, to show how you move through the city. I wanted to show the people and the culture. Through a gangster film, it was a way to get into the city through the characters.
Congo has a wonderful culture, more than we ever expect and putting that culture on the screen was like a love letter to the city, my city.

There’s violence, sex, blood, brothels and explosions in your film and so, of course, the comparisons to Quentin Tarantino. How do you feel about that?

I can understand the comparisons, but actually I am inspired by the director that Tarantino draws from Sergio Leone who is an Italian director from the 60s that had this very strong genre – a Western, but at the same time he put it in Italy, with the culture, the character, the land.

Also, the fact that it’s fast, that there are certain elements. Even if you look at the film, it has its own identity, its own character.

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