Downstream to Kinshasa review – war survivors set sail on mission for reparations

During one fateful week in June 2000, terror gripped the town of Kisangani in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as fighting between the armies of Rwanda and Uganda left thousands dead, injured, or disabled. Years on, the harrowing bloodshed, named the “six-day war” by local people, remains a taboo topic. Shedding light on the plight and resilience of the survivors, prolific documentarian Dieudo Hamadi follows their tireless mission for reparations, as they set sail to the capital Kinshasa where they will present their demands to the government. Shot in intimate closeup, the difficult journey constitutes the film’s emotional centre. Avoiding maudlin sentimentality or voyeuristic ethnography, these boat sequences offer an unvarnished, clear-eyed look at the interpersonal dynamics of a marginalised community in which both solidarity and discord coexist. Conflicts are inevitable; the survivors are crammed on to a rudimentary wooden barge with plastic tarps as their only shield from torrential rain and other harsh weather conditions. At one point, one man loudly laments the quality of the food provided by the women, to their dismay. Against these moments of tension, a shared resolution in seeking compensation from a negligent system emerges as a uniting force, one that cuts across...