Petna Ndaliko, 2019, 37min
From its opening frames, Matata defies the recorded image to shape it's own reality. The film follows a female protagonist who sits for a posed photography session. The session takes an unexpected turn, spiraling into a series of dance-inspired dreamscapes, blurring projections of the mind with historical fragments and the external, waking world. As a filmmaker, Ndaliko is concerned with movement, but it is more than just that of the film's subjects, it is away from prescribed representations of Congo and into a new future. 

Q&A with Petna Ndaliko and Chérie Rivers Ndaliko following the film, plus reception with Congolese food and live music by Nkumu Katalay & the “Life Long Project” band



Congo in Harlem is made possible with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.