One of the great global success stories of the past two years, Staff Benda Bilili have become an unstoppable force in international music. A group of street musicians who live in and around the grounds of the zoo in Kinshasa, Congo, they make music of astonishing power and beauty. The band’s mesmerising rumba-rooted grooves, overlaid with vibrant vocals and extraordinary tin-can guitar solos, have been dazzling audiences and media the world over, on record, on stage and on the big screen.

Four paraplegic singer/guitarists form the core of the band, assisted by a ‘hype man’ on crutches who whips the crowd into a frenzy, and backed by an all-acoustic rhythm section pounding out tight grooves. Then, on top of everything, are those inimitable and infectious solos performed by a teenage prodigy on a one-string electric lute he designed and built himself out of a tin can.

Staff Benda Bilili ripped through Europe for the first time in late 2009, spreading the word about debut album 'Très Très Fort' with one of the most talked-about tours of 2009. The continent's media responded in a chorus of praise, with top TV shows (including BBC Newsnight), broadsheet newspapers and world-renowned radios lavishing the band and their album with attention and end-of-year plaudits.

Now it’s 2011, and “Benda Bilili”, a documentary film on the band shot over the past few years by French filmmakers Florent de la Tullaye and Renaud Barret, premiered at the prestigious “Director’s Fortnight” event at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. The band proved to be one of the sensations of the festival, with reviews describing them as “The Kinshasa social club” (The Times), and the film as “a rousing depiction of unimaginable poverty and transcendent résolve” (Hollywood Reporter) as well as “"a remarkable documentary and an amazing music film" (Telegraph).


Benda Bilili means "look beyond appearances" - literally: "put forward what is hidden"