Over the past several decades, looking into the business of other countries has become an easy task, and cameras contribute the most to this.  People may be able to read about the happenings of said country, yet it’s been proven that connecting on an emotional level depends on seeing it with one's own eyes.  The city of Goma, located in the Democratic Republic of Congo, isn’t exempt from this trend, but the view of the country given to the world hasn’t been very flattering.  After years of negative press, Director Joris Postema arrives in the city to shine light on its positive side, and to hopefully give the world a new perspective on it altogether.  However, there's one small issue with Postema’s plan, as some of the locals begin to question whether him being there will really help their image, and if they even want to be filmed after so much misrepresentation.  The negative attention brought onto their country doesn’t help Postema either as it has caused somewhat of a camera hatred, and a feeling of unwelcomeness towards foreigners can now be felt wherever he goes.  Thrown into an unexpected journey of considering his own biases and perception, Postema takes the audience into a place of vastly different morals than our own.  Stop Filming Us is a fascinating look into another culture that challenges the perception we have when comparing ourselves to others.


ORIGINAL TITLE: Stop Filming Us
YEAR: 2020
GENRE: Documentary
DURATION: 95 minutes and 55 minutes (TV version)
ORIGINAL LANGUAGE: Swahili, Dutch, English and French
COUNTRY: Netherlands
DIRECTOR: Joris Postema
WRITER: Joris Postema and Harmen Jalvingh
CAST: Mugabo Baritegera Ley Uwera Ganza Buroko TD Jack Muhindo Gaïus Kowene Juny Sikabwe Bernadette Vivuya
PRODUCTION: DOXY Films and EOdocs.