Angolan filmmaker Dom Pedro showcases African Cultures

22 Septembre 2018 , Rédigé par Caro Sika Publié dans #carosika, #cinema, #afroculture, #2018, #tangonegro, #dompedro, #dance, #music, #ENG

Photo Credit: Tempo Tango

Dom Pedro chose filmmaking to spread the history of our African cultures across the world, especially the history of the kingdom of Kongo.

Originally from Angola, Dom Pedro would escape Angola as a teenager due to cilvil war, leaving his parents behind. Nevertheless, his native land would remain at the centre of his inspiration and creativity, as well as memories of the motherland. Consequently, his love for his culture prompted him to share it with the rest of the world. In fact, he sees it as his life's mission to see African Cultures take their rightful place on the world's stage and to tell the untold story of the motherland so that humanity has a 360° degrees knowledge and vision of itself, Africa being the craddle of mankind.

In one of his most recent and famous documentary "Tango Negro, the African Roots of Tango" (2013), Dom Pedro captured on the screen the social and cultural impact that slavery had on African people and the environment they were forced in, having been snatched away from their homes, families, and natural habitat. We can feel their sadness, nostalgia and the tragedy so profoundly expressed in the musical and dance art form of Tango.

Juan Carlos Caceres, the late acclaimed Argentinian pianist who served as the film composer and passed away in 2015, would say in the film. "The tango is made up of three sadnesses, three memories," ... "The immigrants' sadness. The gaucho's sadness, people who lived in the country. And finally the Blacks' sadness, who didn't come here as immigrants, but who were brought here, leaving their lives in Africa."

Dom Pedro has produced a number of films and documentaries as listed below. He currently is working on a production centered around the Kingdom of Kongo.

- Ray Lema,1997,Tout Partout Partager, 1997. Doc. Musical (RDcongo)
- Bonga, au nom de la liberté.2000. (Angola). Documentary- Portrait. Musique.
- PACO, 2002. Film de fiction. Séléction FESPACO-Burkina Faso. (Angola).
- Barani, Histoire d'une tradition, Documentaire de Pierre Yaméogo. 2002 Assistant
- Le long chemin vers la Paix. 2002, (Angola). Documentaire sur la guerre.
- Kin-Malebo Danse. 2005. Musical Documentary (2x 52mns)
- Congo: Rythmes et Rumba congolaise. 2006. Musical Documentary
- Michelino, Star de la rumba. 2006. Doc. Portrait d'un artiste-guitariste.
- Pépé Felly, l'âme de Zaïko Langa Langa. Musical documentary. 2006
- Rido Bayonne - BORN IN AFRICA. Artiste du Congo-Brazzaville.Doc. 2007.