Release Date: June 6, 2008 (NY)
Studio: First Run Features
Director: Jacques Sarasin
Screenwriter: Not Available
Starring: Wendo Kolosoy
Genre: Documentary
MPAA Rating: Not Available
Official Website: FirstRunFeatures.com
Review: Not Available
DVD Review: Not Available
DVD: Not Available
Movie Poster: Not Available
Production Stills: Not Available

Plot Summary: Jacques Sarasin's "On the Rumba River" is a musical tribute to the African musician Wendo. Featuring stunning images and unforgettable music and interviews, the film honors the Congolese people who have been sustained by his music, despite desperate poverty, a history of oppression and an ongoing civil war that has killed nearly 4 million people.

Traveling up and down the majestic Congo River on a disheveled boat, the young orphan Antoine Kolosoy composed his first songs on a beat up old guitar. As he gained renown, the young "Wendo," as he came to be known, was persecuted by the church and his music banned by the Belgian colonial authorities who feared his joyful rhythms would stir unrest. Wendo became a professional boxer for a time, but he never put down his guitar for long, and when his first album was released in 1948 he became the first superstar of Congolese Rumba.

In the 1960s, his songs expressed the hopes of a newly independent nation, when all dreams seemed like they could become reality. As the country suffered for nearly three decades under the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, his music remained a manifestation of the joyous spirit of the Congolese people that could not be taken away.

After having been reduced to a street beggar, Wendo was rediscovered in 1997 and has made a comeback under the new regime.

Trailer:
Coming Soon!