By Vlad Zakh · December 28, 2025
DR Congo Drama intensethought provoking
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s best-known films couldn’t be more different in tone, a pulpy Kinshasa crime thriller and a quiet, unsentimental drama about a mother chasing an impossible medical bill. Felicite has a bar singer racing through the city’s underworld to fund her son’s surgery, Viva Riva! has a fuel smuggler drawing gangsters, and Maki’la follows a homeless teenage girl surviving Kinshasa’s streets. System K, Kinshasa Makambo and Pieces of Identity round out the list.
01 A Kinshasa bar singer races across the city's underworld to raise money for her injured son's surgery.
Directed by Alain Gomis · 2h 03m
Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Stream: MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel · Rent: Amazon Video
02 A fuel smuggler flush with stolen gasoline and cash draws the attention of gangsters and corrupt soldiers.
Directed by Djo Munga · 1h 36m · Rated R
Stream: OVID · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
03 A homeless teenage girl surviving on Kinshasa's streets is drawn into a dangerous cycle of exploitation.
Directed by Machérie Ekwa Bahango · 1h 18m
04 A collective of Kinshasa street artists turns the city's chaos and waste into raw, defiant works of art.
Directed by Renaud Barret · 1h 34m
Stream: Tenk · Rent: Tenk
05 Three young activists risk their lives organising pro-democracy protests against an entrenched Congolese regime.
Directed by Dieudo Hamadi · 1h 15m · Rated NR
Stream: DocAlliance Films · Rent: Amazon Video, DocAlliance Films · Buy: Amazon Video
Stream: True Story, DocAlliance Films
Stream: True Story
Stream: True Story, DocAlliance Films · Rent: DocAlliance Films
06 An exiled Congolese king travels to Belgium searching for his daughter and confronts a painful colonial past.
Directed by Mwezé Ngangura · 1h 30m
Streaming availability data from JustWatch, via TMDB. Availability changes often, so check the service before you plan a movie night.
