The last we strolled through this territory was The Eyes of Ghana, and now I must say, I’m growing fond of documentary feature films. So let’s dissect another one of them, Makala, that follows the trials, tribulation, dreams and aspirations of a young farmer named Kabwita Kasongo, earning a living making and selling charcoal in Congo.
Directed by Emmanuel Gras, this was one of a kind, especially having gone in blind. It starts with no build-up to the pieces identity as we follow Kabwita in the forest as he prepares charcoal. Halfway to the film is when you realise you’re just following a man’s strenuous 3-day on foot journey to the city, his task: sell his charcoal.
The rawness of the piece in its technical intentions are to be appreciated since the trials and tribulations induce a cocktail of emotions, and multiple what if scenarios on behalf of Kabwita. However, these dampen the engagement in the first and third act, since those are the times you remember that you’re just an observer, contrary to the times where you felt as if you were side by side with Kabwita on the dusty hills as he pushed his bicycle filled with sacks of charcoal in the scorching sun.
Perhaps other editing alternatives might have had one glued, but maybe there’s room for more of this type of screen documentary storytelling, where the pacing totally depends on the subject’s minute by minute turn of events.
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