Telegraphe Congolais

Baby give your trust to me...

In case the last thing I posted got lost, an update...

Goma is calm, but as Jo said, "the peace of terror is not peace." Something may well happen here, but it's unlikely. If it did, though, it would be big. So I think we'll be out of here just in time. Nevertheless "War" just means a spike in the intensity of the area's perpetual war.

We are off to Masisi this morning, or as I call it, "land of a sixth war waiting to happen." Five wars since 1993, hundreds of thousands killed, and an epidemic of rape as a war weapon. We'll see if we can spot any Rwandans cleaning out Interhamwe spider holes, though according to Rwanda they were here and now they're gone. I am officially French today and the others are Canadian. We are taking two cars, one DOCS SUV and one minibus to be filled with Masisi patients coming to DOCS. Nelson has the hidden camera set up and the patients here are preparing a sung welcome for the new arrivals. We have two cases of Fanta and some bread, the cameras are charged up, and the rest is in the hands of Mama Jeanne and hopefully not the Mai-Mai militas.

Nelson is leaving tomorrow, which means the end of our work, or so it seems to me. I can't imagine having accomplished anything here without him, and in fact I consider myself his assistant. In the past week he has made great strides with the patients, letting the women use his camera to film each other and then having a screening of what they shot. Sort of mind-bending (kids will wave at themselves waving on screen). I think this kind of thing will make our film. Nelson's been living with Phil Masles and has the verite thing down. I wanted to turn everything into an episode of "Frontline." I'm glad he won.

We shot a music video for "Wanted G2K" at club Bobongo yesterday instead of going to church. Hi-larious, and this time I made BJ take my role as the perfidious white man (I don't want to be typecast). These things are going to be on Congolese TV which also makes my mind reel.

Before we go, interviews with the U.N. and the Pole Institute (www.pole-institute.org), a wonderful local think tank. A week and counting, and I don't know how we're going to finish all this. Back in NYC it will be 100+ hours of tape, a lot in Swahili and the rest in French, to start editing. Got to get it done in time for Sundance if not Cannes, bitches.

Congolese quote of the day: "The life expectancy in Congo is 24 hours, renewable."

posted by LouisAntoine @ 10:14 PM