Set to the soundtrack of Papa Wemba's extraordinary music, this outrageous, funny and eye-opening film depicts the underground world of a flamboyant African cult.
Nick Fraser (Editor)
Papa Wemba is a well-known Congolese singer. He is also a big cheese in
Le Sape, the Société des Ambianceurs et Persons Élégants, which
translated into English means a society of people who spend huge
amounts of money on designer clothes with the motive of making
themselves as conspicuously elegant as possible.
The film is a splendid evocation of Papa Wemba's music, but it is also
an unusual insight into what it means to be an immigrant in
contemporary Europe.
The sapeur have borrowed from our own culture, creating something rich
and strange and wholly Congolese. Don't miss the scene where they try
on fur coats.
