FELICITY

FELICITY
A FILM BY ALAIN GOMIS
SYNOPSIS
Felicity is a singer in Kinshasa, DRC. She is upright and proud.
She sings in an nganda (bar) resident band and raises her
16-year-old son, Samo, alone.
One morning, however, she receives a call from the hospital
saying that Samo has just been admitted after an accident. He
risks losing his leg if Felicity doesn’t find the money for an operation.
Felicity embarks on a desperate quest that takes her across the
city, into her past, her dreams… But just as she is about to reach
her goal, they amputate her son’s leg.
Her world implodes. She loses the will to go on.
Felicity becomes lost in the world of dreams. She comes adrift,
possibly to the point of no return…
The underground, transcendental music of the group Kasaï
Allstars… Kinshasa… This electrifying city’s bitter but beautiful
daily life… The fantastic frontier between the visible and invisible … The coming together of two souls just when they least
expected it.
Felicity is a love story, a tale to music, of coming back to life.
DIRECTOR’S NOTE
I imagine this film as a song, a hypnotic and sensory blues song.
I imagine it as a dangerous crossing, through rapids and clouds,
on the borderline between the night and our interior forests, until we reach and breathe the cool air of a new day.
I want to show the beauty of the poor districts, because I’m
close to those areas. I want to descend into the abyss with her,
not to be drowned in it, but to face up, to let go, and to find the
seeds of wondrous possibilities there.
“In the middle of the journey of our life, I came to myself, in
a dark wood, where the direct way was lost.”
Dante, The Divine Comedy
I intend to show that there too, lives are beautiful, that there too
there is a common cause.
How to start believing again, to trust, to take what is there and
move on?
How to find new belief, new trust? How to draw on what is
there and to keep on?
“Congo-Kinshasa” is a country whose population added an extra article to the constitution: Article 15: “Make do”. Deprived of
everything, our characters are on their own. And for the space
of the story, Felicity represents all women, and Tabu all men.
Felicity is a bitter sweet film. It is a phantasmagorical journey,
carried forward by the music of the Kasaï Allstars.
I imagine it as an underground tale in which the primal forces
and the modernity of a 21st-century metropolis combine.
Like Dante, Felicity descends into the depths of her hell.
Like Orpheus, Tabu follows, looking for his loved one.
Alain Gomis
THE MUSIC
KASAI ALLSTARS
Kasaï Allstars’ music, and Cécile Muambuyi’s voice, are at the
origin of this project. Their music is a powerful reflection of an
African urbanity, immersed in its popular cultural roots and altered by the city. It mixes modernity and the ritual.
Electric and transcendental, raw and sophisticated, Kasaï Allstars’ music add a troubling and hypnotic colour to the film, its
cyclical motifs, metallic sounds and reverb heightening the impression that it warps time and space.
The lyrics of the songs mix myth and trivia too.
Highly cinematographic, this music at times verges on electro
or rock, and will be recorded and remixed to this effect. It thus
also provides a bridge with the rest of the world.
The Kinshasa Symphonic Orchestra
The Kinshasa Symphonic Orchestra (KSO) reflects the complexity and richness of Kinshasa. Composed of amateur musicians,
it performs a classical repertoire.
In the film, the KSO will play narrative role. Filmed in rehearsal,
the orchestra will mark the opening of the film’s different chapters. This will help portray the characters as universal figures,
beyond their own context, giving the film the timeless tonality
of legend.
It will also help reach a wider audience, an additional complicity.
LISTENING SOUND
Medley Félicité
(Kasaï Allstars et Arvö Part)
http://youtu.be/TBx49dqAGKY
Medley Remixs
(mixED BY Footrac/Fumisteries
BASED ON RECORD - album Tradi-Mods
Vs Rockers)
http://youtu.be/svITN23XfE8
Track list
1. Rubaczech Burnt Friedman Vs Konono N°1
2. Masikulu Dub Mark Ernestus Vs Konono N°1
3. NO.K- Micachu & The Shapes Vs Konono N°1
4. Masikulu Rhythm- Shackleton Vs Kasai Allstars
5. The Incident At Mbuji- Mayi-Bass Clef Vs Kasai
Allstars
THE FOREST
Felicity communes with the invisible; she dreams and loses
herself in the forest. The narrative enters a realm with no
defined limits: the forest within.
The forest is the land of the spirits. Ceremonies are performed there, initiations; it’s an intermediary zone.
For Westerners too, forests are the realm of mystery, danger, or refuge.
The forest will allow us to weave the narrative around sensations, around doubt. We will leave interstices. The film will
unfold in the viewer’s mind.
It will seek to make the spectator dream.
It is a film to experience.
“Forests trace the literary and imaginary fringes of civilization. For us, they are
always anterior and exterior to the order
of institutions. Outlaws, heroes, walkers,
lovers, saints, the persecuted, criminals,
the lost, mystics have all sought refuge in
the forest. Without these exterior lands,
there is no interior to inhabit.”
Robert Harrisson, Forests: The Shadow of Civilization
KINSHASA
Kinshasa commands respect.
It’s a city perpetually on-the-go, the force of whose reality is
fascinating to film, and whose force of action is greater that
the adversity it has suffered. If this city is still standing, it’s
because there’s something indestructible about it, a salutary
life-force that we shall seek.
The aim isn’t to represent Kinshasa, or the DRC, but rather to
draw on this city to forge a common ground. We believe that
there are characters there with the force of universal figures.
Working with a very small film crew, we shall espouse the
city’s flow.
Production note
Felicity will be Alain Gomis’s fourth feature film. In his previous works (L’Afrance, Andalucia, Tey), Gomis clearly managed to impose a distinctive film style. His last feature film,
Tey (Today), was selected in Official Competition at the 2013
Berlin Film Festival, following his earlier works’ selection at
Locarno and Venice.
In his films, Alain Gomis develops a sensitive approach to
human nature that is both poetic and sensory. Infused with
musicality, his feature films invite us to discover a part of ourselves through both interior and geographic journeys. This
time, he will take us to Kinshasa, a harsh yet powerful city still
scarred by its recent wars, with for the first time in Gomis’
work, a female lead role: Felicity.
Felicity poses numerous production challenges, notably shooting with a small crew in Kinshasa, the difficulties of which we
do not underestimate. But drawing on Andolfi, Granit Films
and Cinekap’s rich professional experience, which will enable
us to pool our expertise and networks, we are confident in our
ability to carry this production through.
The shoot in Kinshasa will be organized in partnership with
the Congolese production company Mutoto Production, run
by Kiripi Katembo and well-versed in production in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Thanks to its technical crews
and solid experience working as an executive producer on the
ground, we envisage a focused seven-week shoot.
This Franco-Senegalese co-production also reinforces a wider
dynamic underway for several years now, and which makes
combined funding possibilities feasible. Backing from the Senegalese Ministry of Culture’s new film production fund is
one concrete element of this African cinema revival.
The distribution company Jour2Fête, already our partner on
Tey, has spontaneously manifested its interest in this new
project. Thanks to its interest and financial investment, with
the promise of a significant guaranteed minimum, we have
the guarantee that the film will be given fine distribution in
the future.
TV5 Monde’s engagement in the form of a pre-purchase
agreement at this very early stage of production, plus our current discussions with television broadcasters (Canal+ Overseas notably), who are showing a real interest in the film,
confirm the credibility of the project.
Andolfi’s good relations with both institutional and private
partners in France t thanks to its recent productions, Granit
Film’s long experience of producing Alain Gomis’ films, and
Cinekap’s dynamism are all advantages in bringing this new
cinematographic adventure to fruition.
Furthermore, we believe that Felicity has great international
potential as it is undoubtedly Alain Gomis’s most wide-reaching work. Thanks to its music in particular, we will be able
to target a wide audience. We will thus place particular onus
on promoting the music, producing an album of original and
remixed tracks in collaboration with Crammed Discs, under
the artistic direction of Saul Williams, who will invite contributions by artists such as Damon Albarn, Flying Lotus, and
Rone. A tour of special screenings, concerts and DJ sets will
be organized, along with several exhibitions of contemporary
African art (both real and virtual), that will also generate a dialogue with Western or Asian artists.
The cinematic path that Alain Gomis has been patiently elaborating from film to film has reached definite maturity in this
new film. At the same time, it shows a profound capacity for
renewal. Felicity will be its glowing incarnation.
Arnaud Dommerc
Andolfi
ALAIN
GOMIS
FILMOGRAPHY
Alain Gomis is a Franco-Senegalese filmmaker born in France in 1972.
Features films - TEY (TODAY), 90’, Granit films/ Maïa cinéma /Agora Films / Cinékap, 2011
Berlin Film Festival 2011, competition / Fespaco, Golden Stallion Award, Best Actor Award (Saul
Williams), Uemoa Award / Venice Mostra, City of Venice Award / La Roche-sur-Yon (Audience
Award) / Milan (Grand Prize) / Seattle (Emerging Master Award) / Kerala (special mention) /
Carthage (Special Jury Award) / Trophées du Cinéma Francophone (Best Director) / Cordoba
(Best Film, Best Actor) / Khourigba (Best Actor) / selected at Locarno (Open Doors selection),
Chicago, Namur, London BFI, Los Angeles AFI, Sydney, Bombay, Dubai, Addis Abeba, Montreal,
La Rochelle, Rio, Atlanta...
Felicity will be his fourth feature fiction film.
BiographY
In 2013, his film Tey (Today), starring Saul Williams, was selected in
official competition at the 62nd Berlin Film Festival, before going on to
win the Golden Stallion Award at the FESPACO (Ouagadougou Pan-African Film Festival), becoming the first Senegalese film to win the
award. Tey (Today) was selected to represent Senegal at the Oscars.
Winner of numerous international awards, Tey (Today) is Gomis’ third
feature film.
En 2008, Andalucia, his second feature, was presented at the Venice
Mostra (Venice Days).
In 2002, L’Afrance, Gomis’ first feature film, won the Silver Leopard
Award at the Locarno Film Festival.
Alain Gomis’ films have been selected at Venice, Locarno, Berlin,
Cannes, Toronto, Chicago, Sundance, Seattle, London BFI, Sydney, and
Dubai.
In association with Newton Aduaka (the Anglo-Nigerian director of
Ezra) and French filmmaker Valérie Osouf, Alain Gomis works at Granit
Films.
He is also working on a training programme for young filmmakers and
film technicians in Senegal (Up Court-métrages) in collaboration with
Oumar Sall (Cinékap), and on a project to reopen a cultural centre in
Dakar (the El Mansour project).
- ANDALUCIA, 90’, Mille et Une production, 2007
Venice Mostra 2007 (Venice Days) / Golden Bayard Award for Best Actor (Samir Guesmi), Namur
Film Festival 2007 / Audience Award Belfort Entrevues Festival 2007 / Best Director, Best Actor
Awards Amal Film Festival 2008 / selected at Chicago International Film Festival 2007, Montreal Festival 2007, Seville European Film Festival 2007, Rotterdam Film Festival 2008.
- L’AFRANCE, 90’, Mille et Une production, 2001
Silver Leopard Award, Locarno Film Festival 2001 / Cannes Film Festival (Acid) / GNCR Award
Angers Film 2002 / Golden Bayard Namur Film Festival 2002 / Grand Prize Los Angeles Panafrican Film Festival 2002 / Grand Prize and Audience Award, Milan African Film Festival 2002
/ Oumarou Ganda Award (Best First Film), Fespaco 2003 / selected at Toronto Int Film Festival
- Sundance Film Festival – London Film Festival - Thessaloniki Int Film Festival - Rotterdam Int
Film - San Francisco Int Film Festival - Sydney Film Festival - Jerusalem Int Film Festival - Festival do Rio.
Television
Les Délices du monde, France Télévisons, Elzévir Productions, 2012
Short Films - Ahmed, 15’, 2007, Clermont-Ferrand, Montréal…
- PETITE LUMIERE, 15’, 2003
Golden Bayard, Namur Film Festival 2003 / Grand Prize, Villeurbanne Film Festival 2003 / GNCR
Award, Pantin Film Festival 2003 / Audience Award, New-York Children’s Film Festival / Nominations: 2004 7th Lutins du court-métrage competition / Selected at: Césars 2004 / Sundance
Film Festival - Berlin - Marrakech - Fespaco - Clermont-Ferrand - Carthage
- TOURBILLONS, 13’, 1999, Clermont-Ferrand - Carthage…
- TOUT LE MONDE PEUT SE TROMPER, 8’, 1998
- CARAMELS ET CHOCOLATS, 12’, 1996
COMPANY PRESENTATIONS
ANDOLFI
Andolfi is a film production company set up in 2001,
run by Arnaud Dommerc.
Andolfi produces filmmakers of all nationalities. It
seeks to encourage new narrative and cinematic forms,
while at the same time asserting an eclectic array of
productions that allow its different films to dialogue.
Andolfi welcomes all forms of cinema, from fiction to
experimental to documentary.
Recent productions include Des Etoiles (Under the
Starry Sky), Dyana Gaye’s first feature film (France
Culture’s Révélation Cinéma Award 2014; Jury Award
and Audience Award at the Angers Premiers Plans
Festival 2014; Special Jury Award at the Carthage Film
Festival), Kommunisten by Jean-Marie Straub (selected at Locarno and the Viennale), and Narimane Mari’s
Loubia Hamra.
Projects in development in 2015 include: Album, Dyana
Gaye’s next film, Felicity by Alain Gomis, the documentary Place aux Jeunes by Claire Simon, and the feature
film Que demande le peuple by Valérie Minetto.
GRANIT FILMS
Granit Films is an independent production company
set up in 2009 by filmmakers Newton Aduaka, Alain
Gomis and Valérie Osouf.
In 2012, Granit Films completed its first cycle of production of three feature films: Tey (Today), by Alain
Gomis, presented in official competition at the 2013
Berlin Film Festival, winner of the FESPACO Golden
Stallion and numerous other international awards; One
Man’s Show, by Newton Aduaka, winner of the Critics’
Award at the FESPACO, screened at the Jeu de Paume in Paris, and selected in dozens of festivals; and
L’Identité Nationale, a feature-length documentary by
Valérie Osouf, selected at a dozen festivals in France
and abroad.
At the same time, Granit Films produced two AIDS-awareness short films for the NGO Global Dialogue, translated into
a dozen languages and widely distributed on the Internet.
At present, Granit Films is working on the development of
two feature films: Felicity by Alain Gomis and Oil On Water
by Newton Aduaka, selected by prestigious co-production
platforms including the Cannes Film Festival Cinéfondation
Workshop, the Rome Film Festival New Cinema Network and
the Film London Production Finance Market.
CINEKAP
Cinekap is an independent production company based in Dakar, Senegal, run by Oumar Sall. Its productions include the feature films Tey (Today) by
Alain Gomis, Des Etoiles (Under the Starry Night) by Dyana
Gaye, Siggil by Rémi Mazet (broadcast on France 2 and Canal+ television), and Terre Mère by Alioune Sow (selected at
Clermont-Ferrand and broadcast on Arte television).
Cinekap has also worked as executive producer on a number
of foreign films shot in Senegal, including Cessez le Feu by
Emmanuel Courcol, starring Romain Duris, Fidelio by Lucie
Borleteau (nominated for the 2015 César Awards), and Quai
d’Orsay by Bertrand Tavernier.
Cinékap also runs an annual film training program, Up
Court-Métrages, which produced four short films in 2014.
At present, Cinékap is working on the development of the feature film Felicity by Alain Gomis, a feature-length documentary by Khadiata Pouye, and five short films.
technical specifications
Screenplay
Alain Gomis
In collaboration with
Olivier Loustau & Delphine Zingg
Image
Crystel Fournier
(Bandes de Filles, de Céline Sciamma)
Editing
Fabrice Rouaud
(Saint Laurent, de Bertrand Bonello)
Arnaud Dommerc
9 rue des Cascades
75020 Paris
Tel : +33 9 50 65 23 05
[email protected]
www.andolfi.fr
Producer
ANDOLFI
Granit Films
Coproduction
Cinekap (Sénégal)
Executive Kinshasa Production
MUTOTU Production (RDC)
14 rue Charles V
75004 Paris
Tél : +337 50601648
[email protected]
http://granitfilms.com
[email protected]
http://cinekap.com/
«There was not one amongst us who looked forward
to being born. We disliked the rigours of existence, the
unfulfilled longings, the enshrined injustices of the world,
the labyrinths of love, the ignorance of our parents, the
fact of dying, and the amazing indifference of the Living
in the midst of the simple beauties of the universe.»
«For days, and almost without our knowing, while
we managed to smile at faces and flowers, the rebel
forces of our souls were fighting bitterly on the edge
of the abyss, and now that we are at the bottom, everything is breathing freely.»
Maurice Maeterlinck, The Treasure of the Humble
Ben Okri, The Famished Road