Kinshasa, the capital city of 17 million people, is plunged into darkness and insecurity as its inhabitants struggle to access the light. In a relentless quest, Kudi mobilises the people of his neighbourhood, Kisenso, to buy the stolen cable so that electricity can be restored in time for the festivities.
Kinshasa, the capital city of 17 million people, is plunged into darkness and insecurity as its inhabitants struggle to access the light. In a relentless quest, Kudi mobilises the people of his neighbourhood, Kisenso, to buy the stolen cable so that electricity can be restored in time for the festivities. At Christmas, Kudi turns into Santa Claus. Flashes of light and hope illuminate the streets of Kinshasa. On Mount Mangengenge, a sacred site, Pastor Gédéon preaches the light of Christ as the way to faith and light. Meanwhile, young Davido is looking for shelter after his house was flooded by the Congo River. He kills time by working out and waiting for the river to recede from his neighbourhood.
The film transforms the absence of light into a powerful metaphor for survival. Makengo's lens captures both the struggle and the poetry of Kinshasa's people, where conviction, ingenuity, and quiet resistance shape daily existence. A deeply humanist work, the film is a poignant reflection on how a community reclaims its agency in the face of collective hardship, finding resilience even in the darkest hours. Between hope and religious faith, 'Rising Up at Night' is a subtle, fragmented portrait of a population that, despite the challenges, is reinventing itself in an environment marked by violence, coloured by the uncertainty of tomorrow and immersed in the beauty of Kinshasa's nights.
The film transforms the absence of light into a powerful metaphor for survival. Makengo's lens captures both the struggle and the poetry of Kinshasa's people, where conviction, ingenuity, and quiet resistance shape daily existence. A deeply humanist work, the film is a poignant reflection on how a community reclaims its agency in the face of collective hardship, finding resilience even in the darkest hours. Between hope and religious faith, 'Rising Up at Night' is a subtle, fragmented portrait of a population that, despite the challenges, is reinventing itself in an environment marked by violence, coloured by the uncertainty of tomorrow and immersed in the beauty of Kinshasa's nights.
