{"id":5123,"date":"2026-08-11T08:23:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T08:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5123"},"modified":"2026-08-11T08:23:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T08:23:18","slug":"congo-boy-is-an-autobiographical-and-musical-refugee-drama-its-director-has-more-in-the-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5123","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Congo Boy\u2019 Is an Autobiographical and Musical Refugee Drama. Its Director Has More in the Works."},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<!-- do not apply CSS styles to this element! --><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\n\tRobert is a 17-year-old Congolese refugee in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR). After his parents are imprisoned, he must care for his four younger siblings while striving to become a musician. That is the story of <em>Congo Boy<\/em> from director Rafiki Fariala. But it is also his, or at least inspired by his personal story.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5121\">Ann Hui to Receive Busan Film Festival\u2019s Camellia Award<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe landmark co-production by the Democratic Republic of the Congo\u00a0(DRC) and the CAR, which world premiered in the Un Certain Regard competition of the Cannes Film Festival, where it won its star Bradley Fiomona Dembeasset the best actor honor in the session, is now unspooling on the big outdoor square in Switzerland, namely the Piazza Grande as part of the \u00a079<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0edition\u00a0of the\u00a0Locarno Film Festival, on Tuesday, Aug. 11.<\/p>\n<p>\n<em>Congo Boy<\/em>\u2018s cast is led by Dembeasset and also features Christy Djomanda Louba, P\u00e9truche Mbomba, Rosiana Kotozia, Gloria Ambacko and Dieufera Sana. The screenplay was written by Fariala, Tommy Baron and Boris Lojkine. Adrien Lallau handled the cinematography, with editing by C\u00e9sar Simonot.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe autobiographical film \u2013\u00a0Fariala is the son of Congolese parents, based in the CAR and a self-taught musician \u2013 previously made the 2022 documentary <em>We, Students!<\/em>, in which he turned the camera on himself and his friends to capture everyday student life at Bangui University. <em>Congo Boy<\/em> is a production of Mahongo Films in the CAR, co-produced by Kiripifilms in the DRC, which is the company of filmmaker Dieudo Hamadi (<em>Kinshasa Makambo<\/em>, <em>Downstream to Kinshasa<\/em>), and France\u2019s Unit\u00e9.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tYou may wonder just how autobiographical the movie is. \u201cIt is really my own story, told through Robert, played by Bradley,\u201d Fariala told <em>THR<\/em> via a translator just before the film\u2019s world premiere. \u201cWhen you see in the film that Robert is shot at, I was actually shot at.\u201d The same is true for Robert\u2019s stay with a colonel and his participation in a talent show, co-organized by UNICEF, among other things.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe filmmaker sees his experience as a refugee as something that reflects the lives of many people around the world and is showcased in the film. \u201cMy family fled the Congo because there was war there, and when we got to the Central African Republic, war started there, too,\u201d Fariala explained. \u201cThey wanted to be in a country that was more at peace to protect their family. So they were thinking of going to Benin and then on to Europe to have some stability for our future. But unfortunately, they had passports and their refugee card that showed a different country, so they got arrested.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tAfter <em>We, Students!<\/em> was censored in the CAR, he had to go into exile in France, again as a refugee. \u201cWe often speak about refugees who want to go to Europe, but there are a lot of people who are refugees within different countries of Africa,\u201d as the film shows, said the director. \u201cAnd I want to convey that refugees are not beggars. They have to leave their home because this world is really crazy because of human destruction. But the young ones still want to fight; they still have hopes and dreams. I am proud to be a refugee.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5119\">And the Winners Are\u2026 Locarno Open Doors Program Unveils 2026 Awards<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tHow did the director find his cast to tell a very personal story? \u201cWe did some street casting,\u201d he recalled, highlighting that he added a French casting director to his Central African Republic crew to find the lead actor. \u201cHe\u2019s my double,\u201d emphasized Fariala. \u201cIt took months. I started looking into young singers on the music scene, but they lacked charisma. So I went to look for Congolese refugees, and we went to cultural centers in different neighborhoods. At this school at 6 a.m., we auditioned 50 young boys, including Bradley, and he was so different from the others. He was reserved and smiling, but he had something in common with me. He liked to sing and rap, but only in his bedroom, because his father didn\u2019t want to hear anything about art. His father just wanted his son to do well in school, like mine. So I gave him an improv exercise about failing his high school degree, and it was very different from the others.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tFariala was convinced that the young man was the right person to play the lead role. \u201cBut I had to talk to his parents, who didn\u2019t agree at first,\u201d he shared with <em>THR<\/em>. \u201cSo I had to be very persuasive.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe rest of the cast is also made up of non-professional actors. And many portray their real-life experience, such as soldiers appearing in the film as soldiers, and Fariala\u2019s aunt playing herself. That plays into the filmmaker\u2019s interest in both documentary and fiction, and in mixing the two in his films. \u201cI started out in documentary, but I always like to add a layer of fiction into my documentaries,\u201d he told <em>THR<\/em>. And <em>Congo Boy<\/em> is a fictionalized version of his own life, with the reliance on a non-professional cast adding another layer of documentary vibe, he noted.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tWhat\u2019s next for Fariala? \u201cFor my next projects, whether they are documentary or fiction, I want to keep doing that,\u201d mixing genres, the filmmaker told <em>THR<\/em>. \u201cI have another documentary that I started filming before <em>Congo Boy<\/em>. It\u2019s called <em>To Live<\/em> and is about one year of my life after <em>We, Students!<\/em> was released and was censored in the Central African Republic and I had to go into exile in France.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\n\tWhat awaits audiences? \u201cI was a bit lost in France,\u201d the creative shared. \u201cI was lonely, and I didn\u2019t know how to talk to people, how to interact, and so I felt homesick. And I filmed myself to live. The camera became my friend; it kept me busy. At the same time, my little sister was sending me footage of the family back home, which helped me really hang in there. So, this will be my next film.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tBut Fariala has more in the works. \u201cI have written another fiction film which could be a sequel to <em>Congo Boy<\/em>, because of this character of Robert,\u201d he told <em>THR<\/em>. \u201cI want to see what happens when he has become a musician and when he becomes famous and how, when he\u2019s accepted in the Central African Republic, he is going to live with success. I want to keep digging into that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5118\">Tedde Moore, Ralphie\u2019s Teacher in \u2018A Christmas Story,\u2019 Dies at 79<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In an interview on his film &#039;Congo Boy,&#039; director Rafiki Fariala discussed his autobiographical, musical refugee family drama screening at Locarno.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2,904,905],"class_list":["post-5123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-international","tag-locarno-2026","tag-locarno-film-festival"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u2018Congo Boy\u2019 Is an Autobiographical and Musical Refugee Drama. Its Director Has More in the Works. - US Property Moves<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5123\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Congo Boy\u2019 Is an Autobiographical and Musical Refugee Drama. Its Director Has More in the Works. - US Property Moves\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In an interview on his film &#039;Congo Boy,&#039; director Rafiki Fariala discussed his autobiographical, musical refugee family drama screening at Locarno.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5123\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"US Property Moves\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-11T08:23:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=5123#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=5123\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018Congo Boy\u2019 Is an Autobiographical and Musical Refugee Drama. Its Director Has More in the Works.\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-11T08:23:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=5123\"},\"wordCount\":1118,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=5123#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/059814cd4650f5fdc5f9c3a22eca7f70.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"international\",\"Locarno 2026\",\"Locarno Film Festival\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=5123#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=5123\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=5123\",\"name\":\"\u2018Congo Boy\u2019 Is an Autobiographical and Musical Refugee Drama. Its Director Has More in the Works. - US Property Moves\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=5123#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=5123#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/059814cd4650f5fdc5f9c3a22eca7f70.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-11T08:23:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=5123#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=5123\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=5123#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/059814cd4650f5fdc5f9c3a22eca7f70.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/059814cd4650f5fdc5f9c3a22eca7f70.webp\",\"width\":970,\"height\":545},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?p=5123#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u2018Congo Boy\u2019 Is an Autobiographical and Musical Refugee Drama. Its Director Has More in the Works.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"US Property Moves\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uspropertymoves.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u2018Congo Boy\u2019 Is an Autobiographical and Musical Refugee Drama. Its Director Has More in the Works. - US Property Moves","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5123","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018Congo Boy\u2019 Is an Autobiographical and Musical Refugee Drama. Its Director Has More in the Works. - US Property Moves","og_description":"In an interview on his film &#039;Congo Boy,&#039; director Rafiki Fariala discussed his autobiographical, musical refugee family drama screening at Locarno.","og_url":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5123","og_site_name":"US Property Moves","article_published_time":"2026-08-11T08:23:18+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5123#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5123"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c"},"headline":"\u2018Congo Boy\u2019 Is an Autobiographical and Musical Refugee Drama. Its Director Has More in the Works.","datePublished":"2026-08-11T08:23:18+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5123"},"wordCount":1118,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5123#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/059814cd4650f5fdc5f9c3a22eca7f70.webp","keywords":["international","Locarno 2026","Locarno Film Festival"],"articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5123#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5123","url":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5123","name":"\u2018Congo Boy\u2019 Is an Autobiographical and Musical Refugee Drama. Its Director Has More in the Works. - US Property Moves","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5123#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5123#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/059814cd4650f5fdc5f9c3a22eca7f70.webp","datePublished":"2026-08-11T08:23:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5123#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5123"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5123#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/059814cd4650f5fdc5f9c3a22eca7f70.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/059814cd4650f5fdc5f9c3a22eca7f70.webp","width":970,"height":545},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5123#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u2018Congo Boy\u2019 Is an Autobiographical and Musical Refugee Drama. Its Director Has More in the Works."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/","name":"US Property Moves","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6dcb1ef8e64fe67b72b772b81aa822c","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/uspropertymoves.com"],"url":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}