Democratic Republic of the Congo

Guy Kabeya Muya, born in 1970 in Kinshasa, is a filmmaker from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 1988, he began studying at the National Institute of Performance Arts (INAS) in Kinshasa, graduating with a degree in drama in 1996. He also took courses in Mbalmayo, Cameroon on audiovisual techniques and in Douala, Cameroon on animation and visual communication. In 2004, he was first assistant to Thierry Michel on the set of the film Congo River, Beyond Darkness. In 2006, he and Guy Bomanyama-Zandu co-directed the drama Muswamba, about a teenage girl thrown onto the street and struggling to survive after being accused of sorcery. The film provides a strong moral message about the evils of child abuse. As part of a workshop led by Thierry De Mey of Charleroi Danses, he directed the 2007 documentary Cailloux (Pebbles) on informal economic enterprise in Kinshasa. Kabeya Muya worked with veteran documentary director Monique Mbeka Phoba on a project where a group of young theater students in Kinshasa learned how to make a film. This led to the 2008 documentary, Entre la coupe et l’élection (Between the Cup and the Election) about the first soccer team from Sub-Saharan Africa to participate in a FIFA World Cup, in 1974, co-produced by him and Mbeka Phoba. In April 2006, Kabeya Muya was severely beaten by armed men who threatened to kill him because of his relations with foreigners. In 2009, he received death threats for having worked on the film Katanga Business as assistant director to Thierry Michel. Monique Mbeka Phoba quickly mobilized an international campaign to ensure that the Congolese authorities extended their protection.
Biography Source

Filmography

Muswamba (2006)
Pebbles / Cailloux (2007)
Between the Cup and the Election / Entre la coupe et l’élection (2008)