Serious

"Benda Bilili !", the film about the story of Staff Benda Bilili, was welcomed with a standing ovation on the opening night of the Cannes Film Festival, and the band went on to become one of the sensations of the event, with the world's media showering the film and the band with accolades.

Devoted to the band's extraordinary story, this is the film on which French directors Renaud Barret and Florent de la Tullaye (aka Belle Kinoise) have been working on for the past 5 years, ever since they encountered the band in Kinshasa.

The film shows the band's journey from the sidewalks of Kinshasa to the stages of large European concert halls and festivals, and features performances of many songs from Staff's popular "Très Très Fort" cd album, which came out last year on Crammed Discs (and has just won Staff Benda Bilili the Songlines Award for "Best Group of 2010").

Watch Staff Benda Bilili on CNN

Watch Staff Benda Bilili on Guardian Cannes feature

"An extraordinary film ... it will do what Ry Cooder & Wim Wenders did for the Buena Vista Club and make them (Staff Benda Bilili) world famous..." BBC Radio

"a remarkable documentary and an amazing music film" The Telegraph

"The Kinshasa social club ... the utter joy of witnessing these men realising their dreams should make this the feel-good film of the festival" The Times

Staff Benda Bilili will play at Glastonbury in June