MONGOMASI Village Orchestra – Dances of the MANGBETU in HAUTE-UELE/ Oriental Province/ Dem. Republic of Congo
The Mangbetu, as we could watch them in the Belgian-colonial documentary (made in 1954 with the same name) by Gérard De Boe (2.11.1904-18.03.1960), do no longer exist as such. Today they are devoted Christians who abandoned their ‘healers’ (fêticheurs). Their many objects (e.g. the wickerwork hats with feathers for the men and the “negbés” hind-protection for the women), nobody is left to produce these crafts. Their elegant anthropomorphic sculptures, finger-harps, daggers, coffins etc. are sold and dispersed over the world. The royal woodcarvers are dead, without passing on their crafts and artistry to their sons. Yet, they have maintained their fame as excellent dancers und continue to dance their ‘grand’ dances in their customary gear made out of bark. In their dance-orchestras their music, their instruments and their myths are kept alive.
The film wants to document (a) the village life of the Mangbetu in “Mongomasi” (under chief Gabriel Abongonyasi) and (b) display the expressive beauty of their most important dances. In doing so the film shall portrait specific individuals from Mongomasi, such as musicians, dancers, elders. While the elders talk about the vanishing traditions of their youth, the film shall watch the young following their livelihood activities in the equatorial forest. In documenting these individuals the social web of the Mangbetu is displayed and their sense of (vanishing) traditions is revealed without falling into an analytical tone.
The images shall show the personalities and their relations within the community without falling – whenever possible – onto language. Image and sound documentation shall convince without much interviews.
The silence (some call it monotony) of the great forest and the secluded village life (Mongomasi is a place on the extreme periphery of the globalization, therefore still without electricity and tv) shall contrast with the fast rhythm of the collective dances and shall show the simple collective life without idealizing it.
In their traditional dances called M’abolo, Neigbi, Nāāndo, Nenyongo (welcome dance), Nebobpo, the Mangbetu of today still transcend and preserve their identity after the mostly dramatic transformations of the 20th century, the independence of the Congo (July 1960), the rebellions (1998/1999) and intensive mission work of – amongst others – the roman-catholic diocese in Isiro-Niangara (since 1911).
