Benda Bilili are top of the World Music Charts and have appeared
at Glastonbury and Womad.
It's the sound of Congolese rumba, tribal rhythms, James Brown funk,
Cuban mambo and a bit of Jimi Hendrix thrown in for good measure.
But if the sound of Benda Bilili is unique, so is their look. They're a
group of paraplegics who live in the slums of Kinshasa
However, the power of their music has now taken them all over the world
- and to the top of the World Music Charts, where Benda Bilili's album, Tres
Tres Fort is currently number one.
To add to it, they're the subject of a documentary, out this week, made
by two Parisian film-makers, Renaud Barret and Florent De La Tullaye, who
"discovered" them on the streets five years ago.
Renaud BarretDirector of Benda Bilili
"We didn't decide to make a movie about them, we met them by
chance," explains Renaud Barret.
(....)
"You know that Staff Benda Bilili, in Lingala, means 'beyond
appearances'. It's a message of hope. We want the whole world to understand
that anything is possible if you want it bad enough and are willing to work for
it."
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