Calendar

Release in Wallonia 19 January 22 Release in France 16 March 22 Release in Flanders from 19 to 30 April 22

Special dates in Belgium

• 28-jan-22 - 19:00 - Special screening Kopax - Brussels - Vendôme

• 30-jan-22 - 15:30 - Special screening - Ath

• 8-feb-22 - 18:00 - Special screening Jeune Barreau of Mons - Mons - Plaza Arthouse Cinéma

• 9-feb-22 - 19:45 - Special screening Barreau of Liège - Liège - Grignoux

• 10-feb-22 - Special screening UCL - Louvain-La-Neuve - Cinéscope

• 18-feb-22 - 19:00 - Special screening Kopax - Brussels - Vendôme

• 21-feb-22 - 18:45 - Special screening 'Justice et Paix' - Brussels - Aventure

• 14-mar-22 - 19:00 - Special screening ASF - Barreau of Brussels

• 25-sept-22 - Special screening University of Antwerp

• 11-oct-22 - Special screening - De Roma - Antwerp

Special dates in France

• 7-feb-22 - 20:00 - Premiere - CWB - 46 rue Quincampoix 75004 Paris

• 12-mar-22 - Premiere - Paris - With the presence of Dr. Denis Mukwege

• 15-mar-22 - Premiere - Strasbourg

• 16/03/22 - 20:00 - Premiere - Espace St. Michel - Paris - With the presence of Thierry Michel

• 17-mar-22 - 20:15 - Le Méliès - Montreuil - With the presence of Thierry Michel

• 17-mar-22 - 19:30 - Les 7 Parnassiens - Paris - With the presence of Jean-Jacques Lumumba

• 18-mar-22 - 20:00 - Espace St. Michel - Paris - With the presence of Rony Brauman

• 18-mar-22 - 20:00 - Le Rio - Clermont-Ferrand - With the presence of Thierry Michel

• 19-mar-22 - 20:30 - L'Arlequin - Belley - With the presence of Thierry Michel

• 20-mar-22 - 19:30 - Les 7 Parnassiens - Paris - With the presence of Maryse Artiguelong and Déo Namujimbo

• 20-mar-22 - 17:45 - Le Diagonal - Montpellier - With the presence of Thierry Michel

• 21-mar-22 - 19:30 - Les 7 Parnassiens - Paris - With the presence of Eric Mirguet

• 21-mar-22 - 20:15 - Le Club - Grenoble - With the presence of Thierry Michel

• 22-mar-22 - 20:30 - Utopia - Saint-Ouen L'Aumône - With the presence of Thierry Michel and Jean Hervé Bradol

• 23-mar-22 - 19:45 - Les Variétés - Marseille - With the presence of Thierry Michel

• 24-mar-22 - 19:30 - Le Mazarin - Aix en Provence - With the presence of Thierry Michel

• 24-mar-22 - 20:00 - Espace St. Michel - Paris - With the presence of Bienvenu Matumo

• 25-mar-22 - 20:00 - Le Cigalon - Cucuron - With the presence of Thierry Michel and members from Amnesty International - Antenne de Pertuis

• 26-mar-22 - 18:00 - Le Bourguet - Forcalquier - With the presence of Thierry Michel

• 27-mar-22 - 16:30 - Les 7 Parnassiens - Paris - With the presence of Kreascence Paulusi

• 27-mar-22 - 16:30 - Le Méliès - Port de Bouc - With the presence of Thierry Michel

• 29-mar-22 - 20:00 - Espace St. Michel - Paris - With the presence of Marie-Lina Pérez and Nicolas Perron

• 29-mar-22 - 20:30 - Le Sémaphore - Nîmes - With the presence of Thierry Michel and members from Amnesty International Nimes

• 31-mar-22 - 20:00 - Ciné Toboggan - Décines-Charpieu - With the presence of Jean-François Ploquin

• 31-mar-22 - 20:00 - Bel-Air - Mulhouse - With the presence of Claude Shlatter, Grâce Dakpogan and Thomas Buys

• 31-mar-22 - 20:30 - Le Dietrich - Poitiers - With the presence ofAmnesty International and the Human Rights League

• 1-apr-22 - 20:00 - Espace St. Michel - Paris - With the presence of Poncia Nyembo

• 2-apr-22 - 17:00 - Café des Images - Hérouville-Saint-Clair - With the presence of the association Justice et Paix pour la RDC

• 3-apr-22 - 11:00 - L'Escurial - Paris - With the presence of Jean-Jacques Lumumba

• 5-apr-22 - 20:00 - Espace St. Michel - Paris - With the presence of Christophe Rigaud

Dates in Festivals

• 27-oct-21 - 19:30 - Festival des Libertés (Théatre National) - Belgium

• 4-nov-21 - 18:00 - Journées cinématographiques de Carthage (JCC) (Palace) - Tunisia

• 5-nov-21 - 17:30 - Journées cinématographiques de Carthage (JCC) (Le Théâtre des régions - Cité de la Culture) - Tunisia

• 6-nov-21 - 14:30 - Journées cinématographiques de Carthage (JCC) (Le 4ème Art ) - Tunisia

• 26-nov-21 - 18:00 / 27-nov-21 - 18:00 / 29-nov-21 - 18:00 - Kinshasa - Palais du Peuple - Democratic Republic of Congo

• 4-dec-21 to 11-dec-21 - Ouagadougou - Cine Droit Libre - Burkina Faso

• 22-jan-22 - 16:15 - AP - Tournai - Ramdam Film Festival - Belgium

• 23-jan-22 - 8:25 - AP - Tournai - Ramdam Film Festival - Belgium

• 3-mar-22 - Luxor African Film Festival - Egypt

• 23-mar-22 - Louvain - Docville Festival - Belgium

• 5-apr-22 - 20:30 - Montréal - Festival Nouvelles Vues d'Afrique - Screening at Cinémathèque québécoise - Canada

• 7-apr-22 - 18:15 - Montréal - Festival Nouvelles Vues d'Afrique - Screening at Cinémathèque québécoise - Canada

• 22-apr-22 - 19:00 - Mooov Film Festival - Brugge - Cinéma Lumière - Belgium - With the presence of Thierry Michel

• 22-apr-22 - 19:00 - Mooov Film Festival - Beringen - Belgium

• 23-apr-22 - 20:00 - Mooov Film Festival - Turnhout - Belgium - With the presence of Thierry Michel

• 24-apr-22 - 14:30 - Mooov Film Festival - St-Niklaas - Belgium

• 24-apr-22 - 17:00 - Mooov Film Festival - Zaventem - Belgium

• 26-apr-22 - 17:00 - Mooov Film Festival - Genk - Belgium

• 26-apr-22 - 17h00 - Mooov Film Festival - Turnhout - Belgium

• 26-apr-22 - 20:00 - Mooov Film Festival - Lier (Vredeberg) - Belgium

• 27-apr-22 - 20:15 - Mooov Film Festival - Genk - Belgium

• 7-may-22 - Afrika Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award - Leuven - Belgium

About the film

For 25 years, the Democratic Republic of Congo has been ravaged by a war that has been largely ignored by the media and the international community. The victims run into the hundreds of thousands, if not millions. The perpetrators of these crimes are countless: rebel movements, but also armies, those of the Congo and neighboring countries... All of them seem to be caught up in a dizzying array of killings, for power, for money, in order to monopolize the wealth of the Congo with impunity, in the midst of general indifference.

Travelling through Congo with his handheld camera for thirty years, Thierry Michel witnessed the fights, the suffering but also the hopes of the Congolese people. Relaying the plea of Doctor Mukwege, a Nobel Prize laureate, he retraces the sequence of this heartless violence which has ravaged and ruined Congo for a quarter of century.

An uncompromising documentary, Empire of Silence does not spare any of the actors in the tragedy, nor the Congolese leaders, neighboring countries, nor international institutions. It is based on a UN document, the Mapping Report, which lists the violence committed in the Congo between 1993 and 2003, a disturbing document that was buried. Empire of Silence is an epic tale that traverses the vast Congo, from the mountains and forests of Kivu to the banks of the river in Équateur Province.

A merciless documentary, inspired by revolt and solidarity. A film for history and against oblivion, to break the law of silence and to put an end to the reign of impunity.

To take action

Sign the petition to the French Presidency to break the empire of silence and fight impunity in the DRC with the support of France, click here.

The French National Assembly has already issued a motion for a resolution on the various recommendations of the Mapping Report.

Through a joint declaration, several associations have come together to call on and mobilise civil society in this struggle.

See the trailer here

Festivals

Official selections

List

Festival des Libertés 2021
Journées cinématographiques de Carthage 2021
Cine Droit Libre 2021
DOCVILLE 2022
RAMDAM FILM FESTIVAL 2022
FESTIVAL MOOOV 2022

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The team

Thierry Michel

Director
Author

Christine Pireaux

Producer
Author

Les Films de la Passerelle

Production company

Credits

Technical team

Produit par Christine Pireaux Scénario Christine Pireaux & Thierry Michel Réalisation Thierry Michel Montage Idriss Gabel Musique Michel Duprez & Gwenaël Mario Grisi, Ange Nawasadio Image Thierry Michel Son Cédric Mbongo Direction de production Céline Rauw

Production

Une coproduction Les Films de la Passerelle / R.T.B.F. Secteur Documentaires / le Centre du Cinéma et de l’Audiovisuel de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles avec la participation de Wallimage (la Wallonie) / la Coopération belge au Développement / l’ACAT - Action des chrétiens pour l'abolition de la torture / TV5MONDE / VRT Vlaamse Radio - en Televisieomroeporganisatie en association avec Shelter prod, avec le soutien de Taxshelter.be et d’ING / Dauvister / Liege Airport / Bisanga Avec le soutien du tax shelter du gouvernement fédéral de Belgique Co-funded by Creative Europe MEDIA Programme of the European Union / NED National Endowment for Democracy