Using instructions for constructing a rocket as a frame, the film explores the exploitation of Zaire (as was), by Western governments and corporations culminating in the establishment of a German rocket research company in the country.

Craig Baldwin's kaleidoscopic, amphetamine-jacked tour de force uses a barrage of newsreels, corporate advertising, instructional films, and Tarzan flicks to trace the history of Mobutu-era Zaire into a speculative future that has resonance with our present. It is a biting critique of neo-colonialism, that indicts everything in its path - from the CIA to German munitions manufacturers and American popular culture.

A film by Craig BALDWIN

USA / Congo DRC, 1986, experimental film, 30min




Plot Keywords
cia central intelligence agency
rocket
exploitation
corporation
zaire
alternate history
wealth disparity
violence
uprising
television
stock footage
satire
revolution
poverty
nuke
nuclear
nuclear weapon
nuclear attack
newsreel footage
narration
montage
military
militarism
media
film clip
experimental
experimental music
experimental film
execution
dictator
cult film
annihilism
colonialism
africa
independent film