Discussing Wamunzo (2019)

In this short documentary, Wamunzo: en paroles (Discussing Wamunzo), filmmakers Philip Szporer and Marlene Millar delve into the resonant universe of Montréal-based dancer-artist and choreographer Zab Maboungou, of Franco-Congolese origin. 

Over thirty years with Zab Maboungou/Compagnie Danse Nyata Nyata, the artist has galvanized Canada’s contemporary dance scene with her radically regrounded conception of time, the body, and the self. Maboungou plays masterfully with perceptions of time and the self, in constant choreographic dialogue with the rhythm of the drummers, ever-present in her process and performances. She resists the impulse to make artifacts of African dances and music, and herself refuses to be made into an artifact of her identity or ancestry. Instead, she expands and transforms sites of identity and being by movement, observing and altering the timeless moments that define our place in the world. Her latest creation, Wamunzo, anchors her philosophy in the mysterious and cyclical nature of being.

Directed by: Marlene Millar and Philip Szporer
Choreographer, Composer, and Dancer: Zab Maboungou
Writers: Marlene Millar and Philip Szporer
Director of Photography: Michael Wees
Editor: Mark Durand
Sound Design: Devon Bate
Camera: Michael Wees and Mark Durand
Additional Camera: Saria Chatila
Outside Images: Mark Durand
Musician: Lionel Kizaba, Elli Miller Maboungou and Bruno Martinez
Sound: Devon Bate
Lighting (show): Pierre Lavoie
Sound mix: Matthieu Bourque
Colour Correction: Kolia Camron
Produced by: Marlene Millar and Philip Szporer (Mouvement Perpétuel)