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Welcome to Deadline’s International Disruptors, a feature where we shine a spotlight on key executives and companies shaking up the offshore marketplace. This week, we’re talking to famed French-Congolese musician and dancer Fally Ipupa, affectionately known as the “Prince of Rumba,” and Belgian-Iranian writer-director Hamed Mobasser. The pair are behind upcoming Congolese feature Rumba Royale, a film that is set pre-Congo’s independence from Belgium in 1960. Described as a historical thriller set against the backdrop of Congolese Rumba, the film marks Ipupa’s first acting role. He and Mobasser tell Deadline why the project is a love letter to Congo’s cultural heritage.
Congolese rumba is largely considered one of the most influential genres of African music and dance. It is deep-rooted in Congo’s anti-colonial fight of the 20th century, when the country was under Belgium’s rule until it achieved independence from the European nation in 1960. In 2022, the genre even earned UNESCO-protected status, making Congolese rumba a rich part of the nation’s history books and spawning stars such as Papa Wemba, Koffi Olomide and Fally Ipupa, the latter of whom is currently one of the genre’s biggest stars across Africa and the African diaspora.
Frequently referred to as the “Prince of Rumba,” Ipupa’s songs have nearly a million monthly listeners on Spotify, and he’s been nominated three times for the BET Awards’ Best International Act and won multiple MTV Africa Music and African Muzik Magazine awards. So, when the African superstar was approached to star in Rumba Royale, an ambitious 1950s Congo-set movie that has rumba at its heart, he jumped at the opportunity.
“One of the main reasons I was drawn to this movie is because of the story and how it represents Congo and portrays rumba music,” Ipupa tells Deadline of his first film role. “I was keen to be a part of something that could offer up something about our pop culture from a historical point of view and show Congo in a new light.”
Dubbed a historical thriller, Rumba Royale is set in 1959 Leopoldville, the former capital of Belgian Congo (which is now called Kinshasa), a time when the pulsating rhythms of rumba set nightlife alight. The story takes place around the Club Rumba Royale, where white Europeans and Congolese citizens rub shoulders, and where the captivating melodies of rumba merge with aspirations and fiery debates of independence.
The plot unfolds through the lives of four central characters, each woven into the fabric of a city on the brink of change: Daniel (Ipupa), the bohemian photographer yearning for recognition; Olive (Melanie Bokata), the vivacious waitress caught between dreams and harsh realities; Sese (Patrick Kabundi), the jovial manager of the Rumba Royale; and Amandine (Cécile Djunga), the seemingly discreet figure orchestrating both the music and struggle for independence. As their fates converge at the heart of the club, their stories intertwine in a journey filled with love, politics and the strength of the human spirit.
Humble beginnings
The project is the brainchild of writers Kevin Dwyer and Hamed Mobasser. Mobasser, who is a Belgian diplomat currently based in Washington D.C., also co-directs the film alongside Congolese helmer Yohane Dean Lengol.
Dwyer and Mobasser first met in Brussels, when they both belonged to the Brussels Writers’ Circle, a collective of English-language writers in the city. When Mobasser was stationed at the Belgian embassy in Kinshasa from 2020 to 2024, he met a variety of different artists in the region and ended up making a short film, an experience that gave him exposure to the local, burgeoning industry.
“We had this idea of trying to see if we could make something work in Congo with a reasonably low budget given that the film industry is still in its infancy there,” he says. “At the same time, we found we could work with very talented people who had been self-taught and were experimenting.”
Both Mobasser and Dwyer then came across the work of a number of African photographers who had been working before Congo’s independence in 1960, notably the work of Congolese photographer Jean de Parva, who roamed the rumba clubs of Leopoldville at the time. “If you look him up, you’ll see magnificent pictures of the 1950s and the clubs there, which were full of white people – the Colonials – and black locals,” says Mobasser. “It could give you a false impression of an equal society where people hung out and partied and danced together.”
Mobasser, who is of Belgian and Iranian decent, recalls thinking about this period of time in Congo’s history and was surprised that, for a nation of nearly 100 million people, Congo “didn’t really have many images of themselves in terms of pop culture from the past.”
“It’s an odd thing for me,” he admits, harkening to his Iranian heritage which has a rich history of cinema. “When you ask the Congolese if they can name Congolese movies that they’ve seen, most people I have talked to couldn’t name more than a handful of movies.”
Both Mobasser and Dwyer felt compelled to make a Congo-set movie that would ultimately be what they consider a “declaration of love to art of photography, fashion and the vibrant notes of Congolese rumba while, at its heart, offering a narrative of Congolese characters that are often overlooked by popular visual culture.”
The pair were soon able to attach local director Lengol to co-direct the feature with Mobasser as well as rumba superstar Ipupa.
“Fally specifically didn’t want to play a musician in the film,” says Mobasser. “He wanted to act and that’s why he plays Daniel, the main photographer.”
Shot in Kinshasa by a Congolese technical crew, the film is laden with local talent including the music, which is composed by Congolese artists. While it’s set during a specific place and time in history, Ipupa notes that it was important that the film doesn’t focus too much on the political history of Congo, but rather has a nod to it.
“We’ve stayed far away from politics, which I think is important,” says Ipupa. “We touch on it at the beginning when we talk about the independence but that’s it.”
Mobasser adds that the focus was to “stay historically correct.”
“We didn’t shy away from covering things that are facts or things that happened historically, but we do not go into a political subject matter either,” he says. “It just doesn’t fit the theme of the movie.”
Both Mobasser and Ipupa are hopeful that the project, which is currently in post-production, is going to resonate with local Congolese audiences, especially given Ipupa’s big profile but there is a big desire for this film to breakout to international audiences. “We’d love for this to have a festival run in some way,” notes Mobasser.
“People are going to love this movie in Congo,” says Ipupa. “I think they are going to be surprised in a good way and I’m hoping my position in Congo is going to attract people to it. It’s one of the two or three of the biggest projects to come out of Congo – maybe not in terms of budget, but in terms of ambition and a lot of people have put in a lot of work here. We had a vision, and we knew what we wanted to present and the story we wanted to tell so we are confident this will resonate with local audiences.”
He continues: “Congo, as an industry, is growing. There are a lot of new talented Congolese directors, technicians, crew and writers. In all sections of the film industry, there are new and talented people cropping up. The reality is the industry is not there yet.”
Ipupa notes that given the current lack of infrastructure, it wouldn’t be possible to make more than one or two films in Kinshasa at the same time. “You just wouldn’t have enough crew at the right level,” he says.
While he’s encouraged about the presence of streaming platforms in Africa across the last few years, he’s hopeful that this will grow. “It’s time these platforms take more of an interest in a market that is very big and untapped,” he says. “I’m really happy to see that there are some African talents that make it on to these platforms, but our continent is full of them and it’s important to give a space to these voices.”
“My hope with Rumba Royale is that the Congolese audience take away a sense of pride,” says Mobasser. “The Congolese are some of the nicest and most wonderful people I’ve met, and I hope that when they watch the film, they have a sense of pride in themselves, their history and their people. Having this representation of Congolese rumba on screen is really important. Fally is the face of Congolese rumba today and I’m happy he’s allowed us to create that bridge for Congolese audiences.”
He continues: “For international audiences, it’s really a universal story that we are hopeful will offer viewers a rare look into a Congolese cinematic landscape, where productions of this period of history are rare.”
