Identity Pieces (Pieces D'Identites) Movie Poster

Identity Pieces (Pieces D'Identites)

Identity Pieces (Pieces D'Identites)

Congolese filmmaker Mweze Ngangura, who made the 1987 La Vie Est Belle with Benoit Lamy, directed this Belgian-French-Congolese comedy about a Congolese king in contemporary Brussels. The title refers to identity pieces worn under a business suit to signify regal traditions. Gerard Essomba (the actual grandson of a king) portrays Mani Kongo, King of the Bakongo. Arriving in Brussels on a search for his daughter Mwana-Mwata (Dominique Mesa), King Kongo is unaware that she did time in prison and now dates cabdriver Chaka-Jo (composer Jean-Louis Daulne). In a near miss, King Kongo's ride from the airport is in Chaka-Jo's taxi. Policeman and former colonial administrator Jefke Schengen (Herbert Flack) has Mwana dancing at a club, while Mwana's roommate Safi (Cecilia Kandonda) enters into a romance with royal nephew Mayele (Thilombo Lubambu). Ngangura found some cast members of this film while making his documentary Letter to Makura (1995). The Jean-Louis Daulne music track features soukous singer Papa Wemba in a performance of the title tune. Shown at the 1998 Toronto Film Festival.