A movie about Congo Wars. Second episode of Pangloss serie

History will one day have its say, but it will not be the history that Brussels, Paris, Washington or the United Nations will teach, but that which they will teach in the countries emancipated from colonialism and its puppets. Africa will write its own history, and it will be, to the north and to the south of the Sahara, a history of glory and dignity.

Patrice Emery Lumumba
Last words September 1960

Read the description for more information.

Second part of a serie about Bowie Lana Zeplin installation into Second Life.
Starts here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8isZ87v4y0

First time I met Bowie we talked about her inspiration
Pangloss was inspired originally by photographer Richard Mosse’s photo “Men Of Good Fortune”. http://www.richardmosse.com/content/4.works/10.infra/21.jpg. This photo is taken using a military infrared camera, making the photos look like a beautiful Lisa Frank dream land, when in reality they are devastating pictures of a war-torn Congo. The contrast of harsh reality and haunting, surreal beauty really moved me and I was reminded of a character in Voltaire’s “Candide” named Pangloss. Pangloss is a delusional character who believes that he lives in the best of all possible worlds. He sees the world through rose-colored glasses, and he refuses to acknowledge the pain and suffering before him; Again, the contrast of reality and surreality.

Was obvious I had to make a second machinima revealing the hidden ghosts of Pangloss. History of Congo is a long list of disasters. Shortly, one of baddest never ending colonization history. Under the reign of Belgium King Leopold II, from 1885 to 1908, it is estimated that the Congolese native population decreased by about ten million people. During the Cold War western countries particularly the United States supported a dictator Mobutu due to his anti-communist stance. By 1996 the past victims of Rwanda genocide became the genocider in east of Congo, without almost any reaction of International Community. Two wars 1996-1997, 1998-2003, never ending conflict in North Kivu. 11 countries engaged making it the deadliest war since World War II with over 5.6 million of deaths. Sadly those wars has been financed by all of us. A mineral Coltan, used to build computers, mobile phones, tablets is extracted in the east of the country, and partly finances the rebels, along with the equally deplorable gold and cassiterite (tin oxide) trades.

Read more about History of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Filmed in Second Life

Banana Island

Infra

Art work by Richard Mosse

Video Links

War Witch (Rebelle)

War Witch (Rebelle) A film by Kim Nguyen
Montreal-based filmmaker Kim Nguyen paints a poignant and harrowing portrait of Komona, a 14-year-old girl who has been kidnapped from her African village by rebels to become a child soldier. She escapes from the camp with an older albino soldier and experiences for the very first time the joys of a peaceful and loving life, but a fresh tragedy will force her to confront and fight the ghosts haunting her mind. Inspired by a real story that took place in Burma. Nguyen worked on the film for 10 years, watching and catching children’s points of view with his camera and mixing in tightly edited flashbacks in which the spirits of human beings appear with an ultra-realistic and violent storyline. War Witch is also a poignant and impossible love story filled with magic, picturesque images.

Photography

Christian Als, Pep Bonet, Jean Marc Boujou,
Guy Calaf, Jérôme Delay, Mariella Furrer, Junior D. Kannah, Phil Moore, Richard Mosse, Dominic Nahr
James Oatway http://www.jamesoatway.com/
Finbarr O’Reilly http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/
Jack Picone
Zizola Francesco

Congo Wars

First Congo War
Second Congo War
Kivu Conflict

Coltan

Raise Hope for Congo

UN Final on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth of the DRC

Sexual Violence

Enough – The project to end genocide and crimes again Humanity
CBS News War Against Women
Panzi Hospital