Monique Mbeka Phoba

Monique Mbeka Phoba (born 14 July 1962) is a Belgian-born Congolese filmmaker, screenwriter, journalist, and cultural promoter. Regarded as one of Africa's leading documentary filmmakers, Her award-winning films often address social, cultural, and political issues across Africa. She is the manager of the Brussels-based film production company Rumbacom. Elisa leads the group with positive direction, guiding a series of African dance steps that leave the narrator physically drained and mentally invigorated.

Phoba premiered her documentary Anna, l'Enchantée in 2001. The film follows Anna Teko, a singer who receives a scholarship to study music in France, but due to inadequate preparation, she returns after just three months. The film was awarded the Images of Women prize at Vues d'Afrique Festival in April 2002. In 2004, she released Sorcière, la vie!, a 52-minute documentary examining the presence of witchcraft in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, critically exploring the cultural values surrounding the phenomenon while serving as a personal investigation into Phoba's own heritage shaped by her years living abroad. In 2008, Phoba co-directed Entre la coupe et l'élection with Guy Kabeya Muya, a documentary set between the 2006 FIFA World Cup and the Congolese elections, focusing on two National Institute of Arts students attempting to document Zaire's historic 1974 World Cup appearance by Les Léopards (meaning "The Leopards"). That same year, on 10 October, she co-directed La santé n'a pas de prix with the Belgian Technical Cooperation (CTB). Premiered at the Wallonie-Bruxelles Center through an initiative of the National Program for Medicine Supply (Programme national d'approvisionnement en médicament; PNAM) and in the presence of Health Minister Victor Makwenge Kaput, the 20-minute documentary shows how PNAM functions and promotes safe access to medicines to prevent the use of counterfeit or low-quality drugs in the country's largely unregulated pharmaceutical market. From 1995 to 2007, Phoba lived in Benin, where she has worked on production, distribution and promotion of African cinema.

Filmography Year !!Film !! Role !! Ref. 1991 Corps à cœur Director