Friends of the Congo in collaboration with Congolese filmmaker, Petna Ndaliko are raising funds to produce a film on the Congo Basin rainforest. It will be a sequel to Petna’s 2014 film, Mabele Na Biso.
The follow-up film will delve deeper into the methods used by the local community to establish self-sufficiency, preserve their ancestral land, and maintain sustainable village life while continuing to protect the rainforest. Petna engages Samuel Yagase of GOVA as they explore how to restore “Basandja” – the local traditional code of conduct that governs the management and care of the forest, the waters and the environment as a whole.
This film will serve as an essential tool for local and international education about the importance of the Congo Basin Rainforest and its Indigenous inhabitants.
Petna Ndaliko Katondolo is from the Yira circle of belonging. He is a descendant of the Basukali clan from Masereka and Kitamiaka lands in the eastern part of today’s Democratic Republic of the Congo. As a Ndaliko (sacred space), he is a memory keeper and a storyteller with the Elephant kinship spirit. Petna is also an awarded filmmaker, activist, and educator. His multi-genre artistic works are acclaimed for their decolonial Africanfuturistic artistic style, which engages historical content to address contemporary sociopolitical and cultural issues.
Click here to contact us if you would like to be a part of the film project or learn more about how you can get involved.
We are very excited to share that the Tikva Grassroots Empowerment Fund has offered a $10,000 matching grant to support the production of the Basandja film project. We have raised $4,400 and are almost half way to our goal of matching the $10,000 grant.
We need all hands on deck! Every dollar counts!
Tikva will match every dollar given, up to $10,000. They have done their part, now it is up to each of us to rise to the challenge. If you have already given, will you ask at least one other person to give and support Indigenous Congolese working for climate justice? Contributions can be made by clicking here or mailed to the below address:
Donate to the Congo Basin Rainforest Film Project
Mail Contributions to:
Friends of the Congo
1629 K Street, NW Ste 300
Washington, DC 20006
Memo: Congo Basin Film Project