Virunga

Koko: A Talking Gorilla

October 1978 •French

A documentary that follows Dr. Penny Patterson's current scientific study of Koko, a gorilla who communicates through American Sign Language.

The Rumba Kings

May 2021 •English

In the fifties, when the future Democratic Republic of Congo was still a Belgian colony, an entire generation of musicians fused traditional African tunes with Afro-Cuban music to create the electrifying Congolese rumba, a style that conquered the entire continent thanks to an infectious rhythm, captivating guitar sounds and smooth vocals.

Mountain Gorilla

March 1992 •English

Mountain Gorilla takes us to a remote range of volcanic mountains in Africa, described by those who have been there as ""one of the most beautiful places in the world"", and home to the few hundred remaining mountain gorillas. In spending a day with a gorilla family in the mountain forest, audiences will be captivated by these intelligent and curious animals, as they eat, sleep, play and interact with each other. Although gorillas have been much-maligned in our popular culture, viewers will finally ""meet the legend"" face to face, and learn about their uncertain future.

War for the Planet of the Apes

July 2017 •English

Caesar and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless Colonel. After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind. As the journey finally brings them face to face, Caesar and the Colonel are pitted against each other in an epic battle that will determine the fate of both their species and the future of the planet.

The Cost of Cobalt

March 2021 •English

In the cobalt mining areas of Katanga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), babies are being born with horrific birth defects. Scientists and doctors are finding increasing evidence of environmental pollution from industrial mining which, they believe, may be the cause of a range of malformations from cleft palate to some so serious the baby is stillborn. More than 60% of the world’s reserves of cobalt are in the DRC and this mineral is essential for the production of electric car batteries, which may be the key to reducing carbon emissions and to slowing climate change. In The Cost of Cobalt we meet the doctors treating the children affected and the scientists who are measuring the pollution. Cobalt may be part of the global solution to climate change, but is it right that Congo’s next generation pay the price with their health? Many are hoping that the more the world understands their plight, the more pressure will be put on the industry here to clean up its act.

Changa Changa, rythmes en noirs et blancs

January 1992 •English

A rare documentary made in Brussels in the early nineties collecting witnesses on how local and Congolese musicians enriched each other including internationally known stars such as Manu Dibango, Toots Tielemans, Vaya Con Dios, Phillippe Catherine, Victor Laszlo, Zap Mama...

Anything is Possible: A Serge Ibaka Story

December 2019 •English

From a boy on the streets of the Congo to becoming an NBA champion, Serge Ibaka has risen to a level even he can hardly believe. Watch as he brings the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy back to Africa for the first time, and re-visits all the places he used to go as a young man in this emotional journey.

London Zoo at Christmas

December 2022 •English

An exclusive, festive behind-the-scenes look at the iconic London Zoo, as they prepare for the most wonderful time of the year and make the holiday magic happen.

Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat

September 2024 •French

Jazz and decolonization are intertwined in a powerful narrative that recounts one of the tensest episodes of the Cold War. In 1960, the UN became the stage for a political earthquake as the struggle for independence in the Congo put the world on high alert. The newly independent nation faced its first coup d'état, orchestrated by Western forces and Belgium, which were reluctant to relinquish control over their resource-rich former colony. The US tried to divert attention by sending jazz ambassador Louis Armstrong to the African continent. In 1961, Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba was brutally assassinated, silencing a key voice in the fight against colonialism; his death was facilitated by Belgian and CIA operatives. Musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach took action, denouncing imperialism and structural racism. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev intensified his criticism of the US, highlighting the racial barriers that characterized American society.

Below the Sahara

May 1953 •English

The photographic record of an African expedition led by producer-explorer Armand Denis and his (very) photogenic and camera-toting wife Michaela, who goes bird-riding at an ostrich farm. The expedition ranges from the central interior jungles and mountains to both coasts and as far south as Capetown, and ends with a gorilla hunt led by natives using 100-year-old muskets.

The Gorilla Hunt

May 1926 •English

Mr. Burbridge's party slew three giant gorillas, one weighing something like 450 pounds. Two of these were sent to the Belgian Government and one to the Smithsonian Institution. The explorer also brought away with him three young gorillas, one of which weighed 125 pounds and put up a good battle before he surrendered. Mr. Burbridge shows some amusing scenes with these animals, one of them being that of a young gorilla who insists on getting tangled up in a drum of film. (cont. http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B04E5D7143CEE3ABC4C52DFB467838D639EDE)

Silverback

January 2024 •English

Feature-length documentary following award-winning wildlife cameraman Vianet Djenguet as he documents a gruelling but vital mission to ‘habituate’ a notoriously protective 450lb silverback, in a last-ditch effort to save the critically endangered eastern lowland gorillas from extinction.

Love and Sex in West Africa

March 2022 •English

Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Senegal – when it comes to love and sex, these African countries are caught between tradition and modernity.

Totems and Taboos

December 2018 •French

In Brussels, Belgium, the Royal Museum of Central Africa is undertaking a radical renovation, both physical and ethical, to show with sincerity, crudeness and open-mindedness the reality of the atrocities perpetrated against the inhabitants of the Belgian colonies in Africa, still haunted and traumatized by the ghost of King Leopold II of Belgium, a racist and genocidal tyrant.

Gorillas Revisited with Sir David Attenborough

April 2006 •English

David Attenborough recounts his very personal experiences with the mountain gorillas of Rwanda. Ever since they were discovered over a century ago, these remarkable creatures have been threatened by loss of habitat, poaching, disease and political instability. But despite all odds their numbers have increased. David tells the extraordinary tale of how conservationists like Dian Fossey have battled to save the mountain gorilla from the brink of extinction.

Gorilla

December 1974 •English

This fascinating film tells the story of one man's struggle to protect a small population of gorillas on the slopes of Mount Kahuzi in Zaire and of his incredible relationship with Kasimir, the great silver-backed male, and his family.

Innerer Kongo

Invalid date •German

Titus: The Gorilla King

January 2008 •English

The compelling story of one of the most successful mountain gorillas that has ever lived - a huge silverback called Titus. The programme starts in 1967, when the researcher Dian Fossey first made contact with a group of mountain gorillas in Rwanda. She opened up a window on to their secret lives. Forty years on, this film reveals the complete and dramatic life story of one individual animal. Titus's father was murdered by poachers in front of his very eyes. His mother abandoned him in the subsequent chaos. His family disintegrated. He should have died. But we reveal how Titus survived against all the odds. Titus's present day trials and tribulations take the viewer back in time to reveal key moments in Titus's history. Using testament from eyewitnesses, the film relives one individual mountain gorilla's extraordinary battle for survival.

The War Against Women

November 2013 •Spanish

Sexual violence against women is a very effective weapon in modern warfare: instills fear and spreads the seed of the victorious side, an outrageous method that is useful to exterminate the defeated side by other means. This use of women, both their bodies and their minds, as a battleground, was crucial for international criminal tribunals to begin to judge rape as a crime against humanity.

30 Years of National Geographic Specials

January 1995 •English

Celebrates 30 years of televised specials by The National Geographic Society.