From left to right: Band members Theo, Coco, Randy, Djunani, and Ricky - Photo courtesy of VIFF.

Staff Benda Bilili cancels North American tour, including Vancouver show

The Congolese band Staff Benda Bilili’s 2011 North American tour has been cancelled until further notice. The band was set to play at the Vogue Theatre on Sept. 19, but due to problems securing their U.S. visas, the tour went sour. But if the documentary Benda Bilili! is any indication, not even the U.S. government will be able to stop them.

Benda Bilili! is a documentary by novice filmmakers, Renaud Barret and Florent de La Tullaye, and the film is part of this year’s Vancouver International Film Festival. The film follows the lives and the production of the first album of the Kinshasa street band, Staff Benda Bilili.

It’s hard not to immediately fall in love with a Congolese paraplegic homeless band trying to make it as musicians in order to sleep on mattresses one day. It’s also hard not to root for anyone who sings the truths of their lives in order to inspire others.

Audiences will be taken through the five years it took the group to reach their goal of making it big in Europe. The band wants to be successful enough to spend nights on mattresses instead of their familiar cardboard, which they warn us not to mock; because after all, the cardboard they sleep on is where they dream and make love.

Their lives are tough but the filmmakers don’t focus too much on this. They only let the audience get minimally close to two of the protagonists.

First is Ricky, the orchestrator and leader of the ensemble with four natural kids but countless street kids who have adopted him. Ricky lives in a shelter for the disabled, which burns down during the making of the film.

The second heroine is “Roger”, the young and newest edition of the band, who relies on his makeshift instrument of a coffee can and string to be the salvation for keeping his family fed and mother out of the hospital.

This proximity is near enough, in the beginning, for us to understand the dire circumstances of our players; but not yet invested enough to want to, say, finance their album, which is what the filmmakers do.

However, once hearing the music that comes from these men and kids that have been forced to grow up too quickly, any lacking intimate details are filled in by the incredibly hypnotic and tight Congolese sound.

The lyrics are so raw and personal, that one can’t help but feel a sort of kinship to the rotating singers who pour their lives out within their incredible pieces. The dancing is infectious and as you bob your head, you discover why the directors thought it their mission to make this eclectic band known. You want to see them make it to Europe even though a few of the musicians ironically admit they don’t know why this “Europe” is so special.

Barret and de La Tullaye have done a great job editing the five years worth of footage they have in order to craft a cohesive and simple documentary. But there are some lapses in time that are not accounted for. Nonetheless, the film is not overly stylized nor a glorified music video.

It’s easy to watch and there are plenty of comedic and endearing moments to feast on between the songs. You also see the evolution of the group as their dreams get closer and then realized with a huge European warm welcome from thousands of new fans. The next best thing to watching Staff Benda Bilili perform is to watch this inspiring documentary. So despite their setback they will still be able to reach out to Vancouverites.

And the message in Ricky’s lyrics won’t be lost as you watch and hear him sing “I was born a strong man, but polio got me…I’ve become the man with canes…responsible moms, take your kids to the vaccination centers for poliomyelitis to eradicate buka buka…”