(10 Apr 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kinshasa, DR Congo – 9 April 2025
1. Puppeteers stand with animals made out of cardboard in the Kinshasa Botanical Garden
2. Close-up of monkey puppets made out of cardboard
3. Puppeteers and their cardboard puppets begin the journey that is “The Herds”, a moving theatre performance made up of cardboard puppet animals that flee north from Kinshasa to the Arctic Circle in a bid to bring attention to the climate crisis
4. SOUNDBITE (French) Tshoper Kabambi, DRC producer, The Herds:
“Nature is very important to us. But humans have a tendency to neglect nature. So the main goal is to raise awareness among humans to be in a relationship, first with themselves – we must be in cohesion among each other – and to live in cohesion also with nature. Because it is very important. We want to raise awareness among people about everything that is happening. You have seen the floods all over the world, global warming, deforestation.”
5. Various puppeteers stand with their puppets et the beginning of The Herds’ journey
6. The Kinshasa Botanical Garden, which was partially flooded this week when powerful floods left dozens dead in the capital
7. SOUNDBITE (English) David Lan, producer, The Herds:
“In DRC, there is the second biggest rainforest in the world. And like the Amazon, it’s been damaged by man-made climate change, the effects of fossil fuels on the planet. So we are pleased to start here.”
8. Puppeteers carry cardboard puppets through a hallway by Kinshasa’s Limete Tower
9. Various Congolese flags fly at Limete Tower
10. Puppeteers walk with cardboard puppets towards Limete Tower monument
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Amir Nizar Zuabi, artistic director, The Herds:
“I think one of the big impacts of this project is the fact that this project is happening in 20 different cities. It will travel through different cultures, different places, and it accumulates. And it will tell the story of the Congo also in Norway, because we have partners everywhere. So whatever happens in the Congo is also seen by a lot of other people all around the world.”
12. Various – puppeteers carry cardboard puppets to a staging area
13. SOUNDBITE (French) Mechack Mondonga, puppeteer:
“For me, being an artist is a struggle. And participating in this is a good thing for young artists like us.”
14. Puppeteers arrange the cardboard puppets at the foot of Kinshasa’s Limete Tower
15. Various cardboard puppets sit in a staging area at the Kinshasa Botanical Garden
STORYLINE:
In the Kinshasa Botanical Garden, a troupe of cardboard animals – monkeys, a gorilla, leopards, a giraffe – stand to attention in a clearing. Their handlers, puppeteers dressed in black, begin to move slowly through the woods, eventually picking up speed and breaking out into a run.
These were the first steps of “The Herds”, a moving theatre performance made up of cardboard puppet animals that flee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Arctic Circle in a bid to bring attention to the climate crisis.
The story goes that the animals will be forced out of their natural habitats due to global warming and displaced north, stopping in cities along the way and being joined by more animals.
Just meters away, part of the botanical garden lies under floodwaters. Leftover from massive flooding earlier this week that left half of the city inaccessible and killed dozens, the sight brought The Herds’ story to life in a bleak way.
Tshoper Kabambi, a Congolese filmmaker and producer, is working for The Herds as their DRC producer. He said The Herds’ main goal is to raise awareness.
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