Makala

Kabwita has it all planned: a house for his family, built with his own hands, with fruit trees and a duckpond. In a remote Congolese village, the young man works flat out to realize his dream. While his wife looks after their children, Kabwita spends days felling trees to make a big batch of charcoal to sell in the town, 50 kilometers away. The only way for him to get there is on foot, over dusty hills, along dangerous roads, with an absurdly heavy load of charcoal sacks tied to his rickety bicycle. The journey seems endless, shown in a calm, observational style, in which director Emmanuel Gras constantly keeps the camera up close to his protagonist—resulting in a painfully honest representation of reality. From the people whom Kabwita passes on his exhausting journey, it becomes clear that in Congo, such a maddening quest for a better life is more the rule than the exception.