In Nelson Makengo’s feature documentary debut, night stretches on to infinity. The film opens on a black screen – a void of darkness – while a recording of a fervent sermon sounds like rolling thunder. In Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, an electricity shortage has long plagued the inhabitants, leaving them to cling on to religion as a beacon of hope. Their plight is worsened by climate disasters resulting in floods. Viewed through Makengo’s lens, nocturnal life acquires an otherworldly dimension, as basic human necessities become an elusive luxury.
Shot mostly in Makengo’s neighbourhood of Kisenso, the film observes the ways in which struggling city dwellers adapt to a life lived in the shadows. Meals are eaten by candlelight, while churchgoers wear light-up medallions to illuminate their prayer books. Such survival tactics speak to a collective resilience, while also rendering these previously mundane activities eerily dystopian. The matriarchs of the community lament the rise of crime and sexual assaults that occur in the absence of public lighting, while younger members of the neighbourhood raise funds to retrieve stolen electric cables. In the absence of state support, this community spirit is the only energy that perseveres in times of extreme precarity.
Makengo layers his intricate compositions with a dense soundscape that oscillates between urban noises, feverish religious chants and sombre news reports. Time and again we hear of plans for a hydroelectric plant backed by a major Chinese corporation, a multi-billion-dollar project that has undergone numerous delays. For the people of Kisenso, the future remains uncertain, but their moving camaraderie continues to shine bright in the face of hardship.
• Rising Up at Night is on True Story from 25 September.
