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Empire of Dust poster

Empire of Dust

2011 · 1h 17m · Documentary · Belgium, Congo

Two men representing two different cultures clash in the dust of the former Belgian colony, the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Lao Yang is head of logistics of the group. He is responsible for the equipment, building materials and food (mainly chickens) to arrive in the isolated Chinese prefab camp. The Congolese government was supposed to deliver these things but so far the team hasn't received anything. With Eddy (a Congolese man who speaks Mandarin fluently) as an intermediate, Lao Yang is forced to leave the camp and deal with local Congolese entrepreneurs, because without the construction materials the road works will cease. What follows is an endless, harsh, but absurdly funny roller coaster of negotiations and misunderstandings, as Lao Yang learns about the Congolese way of making deals.

Directed by
Bram Van Paesschen
Starring
Lao Yang
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6.3Smart score

The TMDB rating, pulled toward the movie average (6.03) as if it had 82 extra average votes. Few votes means more pull.

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18 TMDB votes · IMDb page

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DocAlliance Films: available in 75 countries
Subscription · 75Argentina, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belgium, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, French Guiana, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong SAR China, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Türkiye, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Yemen
Rent or buy · 71Argentina, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belgium, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, French Guiana, Germany, Gibraltar, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong SAR China, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Türkiye, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Yemen

Streaming data by JustWatch, via TMDB. Links open the JustWatch listing for United States.

Style & content

belgiumcolonisationcongocultural conflictdemocratic republic of the congodocumentarydrc

Keywords from TMDB.

Connected through the crew

No other movies by this director, writers or cinematographer in the catalog.

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