Exploring Viva Riva!

Mmegi: Viva Riva!, the first feature film you wrote and directed has been greatly acclaimed all over the world, and has won numerous awards including six African Movie Academy Awards.  Where did the idea for the film come from?
Munga: After studying and working in Europe, I went back to the Congo around 1999 and 2000, looking for story ideas.  I wanted a story that could talk about Kinshasa, my city.  It was important for me to tell stories from Kinshasa.  In 2000, 2001, we had a shortage of fuel in the city, which created a lot of tension. Then when I was travelling in the southwest of the country, close to the Angolan border, I met some smugglers.  Just young guys who would go into Angola, smuggle some stuff and come back to Congo to sell it, then party hard and drink, and all of that stuff.

Mmegi: Were they Congolese?
Munga:  Yeah, just young Congolese guys, who would smuggle stuff from Angola and then party like hell.  I realised that is part of the Kinshasa mentality, and the story came from there.