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From humble beginnings on the devastated streets of Kinshasha, four paraplegic and three able-bodied homeless street children dig their way out of desperate poverty with their musical skill. Staff Benda Bilili is a band that has formed a distinctive musical style; a seductive mix of Congolese rumba, James Brown-esque funk, Cuban mambo, ancestral trance and Jimi Hendrix-esque flourishes.

For six years, from the first rehearsals to the release of their acclaimed debut album, Tres, Tres Fort and triumph at international festivals, Benda Bilili! is the story of this dream come reality. Opening Directors Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival last year, Renaud Barret and Florent de la Tullaye’s uplifting film is a frank and intimate portrait of the band, their musical energy and social observation of the realities of life in Kinshasa. Benda Bilili! is a rare cinematic discovery. Much as Buena Vista Social Club changed Cuban music, this film is set to lift the lid on the Congolese/Kinshasa music scene, revealing a hotbed of extraordinary talent and creativity.

Benda Bilili! will be released across UK cinemas on 18 March 2011.