Still frame from the movie Rising Up at Night, Nelson Makengo

Screening

Rising up at Night
Tongo Saa

Nelson Makengo

Free admission upon registration
Three shows, 3 pm, 5 pm and 7.30 pm
Running time: 95'

A documentary film that intertwines hope, disillusionment, and religious faith to deliver an intense and multifaceted portrait of the seventeen million inhabitants of Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Congolese filmmaker and visual artist Nelson Makengo creates a work where evocative imagery and poetic narration merge into a story of great visual and emotional power. Filmed in the director’s hometown of Kinshasa, the film offers a vivid snapshot of daily life in the Kisenso neighborhood, highlighting one of its main challenges: the lack of electricity. Through the contrast of shadow and light, the documentary captures the complexity of Kinshasa’s reality, providing a profound insight into a society that resists, adapts, and continues to hope.

Nelson Makengo is a filmmaker whose work oscillates between contemporary art and film. His film Nuit debout (Up at night) (Best Short IDFA 2019) has screened at over 100 festivals worldwide and has been nominated by the BFI as one of the 50 best films of 2020. E’ville (2018) won the Sharjah Art Foundation Award at the Videobrasil Biennale in 2019. In recent years, Nelson Makengo has collaborated as a director with Aljazeera and Meta, has been a jury member of several festivals and is a Sundance Documentary Film Institute and Doha Film Institute Fellow. Tongo Saa (Rising up at Night) is his first feature documentary.

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Info

Movie in Lingala language with Italian and English subtitles. The subtitles include information for people with hearing disabilities. 

The performance is accessible to deaf and hearing impaired through the Sennheiser MobileConnect system. A smartphone is required, and wired headphones are recommended for better audio quality.

Credits

Director: Nelson Makengo
Screenplay: Nelson Makengo
Producer: Rosa Spaliviero, Dada Kahindo Siku
Production companies: Twenty Nine Studio & Production (BE), Mutotu Productions (DRC)
Co-producers: Film Five – Florian Schewe (DE), Diam Production – Michel K. Zongo (BF), Auguste Orts – Marie Logie (BE), Magellan Films – Samuel Feller (BE), RTBF – Isabelle Christiaens (BE)
Camera: Nelson Makengo
Sound Design: Franck Moka
Sound Recording: Moimi Wezam
Sound Editing: Laszlo Umbreit
Sound Mix: Rémi Gerard
Editor: Inneke Van Waeyenberghe
Color: Miléna Trivier
Composer: Bao Sissoko, Wouter Vandenabeele

Trailer Rising up at Night

Calendar

Saturday, October 11 2025, 1.00pm
Saturday, October 11 2025, 3.00pm
Saturday, October 11 2025, 5.30pm
Sunday, October 12 2025, 1.00pm
Sunday, October 12 2025, 3.00pm
Sunday, October 12 2025, 5.30pm

Highlights

Still frame from the movie Rising Up at Night, Nelson Makengo

Still frame from the movie Rising Up at Night, Nelson Makengo

Nelson Makengo. Photo by Nadja Wehling

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