The film “Rumba Royale” starring Fally Ipupa for the first time in Brussels

Brussels, December 11^th, 2025 (CPA). – The African film Rumba Royale, starring singer Faustin Nsimba, known by his stage name Fally Ipupa, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, for the first time on Wednesday at the Auditorium 2000 in Brussels, Belgium, in the presence of the Congolese rumba star. “I shared some of the historic songs I grew up with with the young musicians in the film so that they could draw inspiration from them. They then created songs especially for the orchestra,” explained Yohane Dean Lengol, co-director of the film, in the synopsis.  “I wanted this music to be celebrated with dignity on screen,” he added.  According to the director, the feature film also features comedian Cécile Djunga, director of the Wallonia-Brussels Center in Kinshasa, and Congolese filmmaker Patrick Ramses Tshikangu. This cinematic work immerses viewers in the city of Leopoldville in the 1950s and 1960s, a city in turmoil between electric nights punctuated by rumba and resistance movements against colonization. The film Rumba Royale tells the story of a photographer named Daniel, played by Fally Ipupa. Highly sought after in a nightclub in the Congolese capital, this photographer immortalizes the most eventful nights. But when his girlfriend is found dead, he becomes the prime suspect and must confront an oppressive colonial system to prove his innocence.  This film also highlights the importance of rumba in this tense context, between fragile political alliances and betrayals, where music becomes a refuge for many Kinshasa residents seeking freedom from colonial oppression. Rumba Royale thus evokes the resistance embodied by ABAKO, a cultural movement that became a political party, propelling Joseph Kasa-Vubu to the rank of first president of independent Congo, but also societal phenomena such as the question of the évolués, the European-educated elite, and the often tragic fate of mixed-race children, sometimes torn from their mothers and abandoned in religious institutions or orphanages. This film highlights the message of filmmakers who want to echo the struggles of the resistance fighters of the time. It pays tribute to both the burgeoning photography industry and Congolese rumba, which was added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2021, during a pivotal period in the history of the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, it is not Fally Ipupa who performs the music in the film, but the equally talented actor Henoc Kyomba. The Brussels premiere lived up to expectations, with tickets selling out just a few days before the event, proof of the excitement surrounding the big screen debut of the “king of rumba” Fally Ipupa. ACP/