The Democratic Republic of the Congo often referred to as DR Congo, DROC, DRC, or RDC (from its French abbreviation), or Congo-Kinshasa after the capital of Kinshasa (in contrast to Congo-Brazzaville for its neighbour) conjures up many images some beautiful but while others are eerie. Think the beautiful Congo River System, diamonds and many other natural resources. On the flipside think the horrible civil war and poverty.

In terms of cinematic productions, however, Congo is breaking ground. Viva Riva, a new film coming out of this part of our continent is an excellent example of this. The film is the FIRST feature film brain child of documentary Filmmaker Djo Tunda. It is also the FIRST contemporary drama to be made by a Congolese director.Viva Riva! won the inaugural prize for Best African Movie at MTV’s 2011 Movie Awards presented at the Gibson Amphitheatre in California on 5 June.

The story revolves around Riva, a thief after the heart of a gangster’s lover (this should be interesting). Throw in some bad choices, an Angolan gangster, precious oils, violence, sex and some social commentary and what we have is a riveting crime tale. The film is set in the beautiful Kinshasa and has the makings of where African Cinema should be going.