The Importance of Being Elegant (2004)

This is the story of one of the most unusual clubs in the world: La SAPE. Its members, the Sapeurs, come from the Democratic Republic of Congo and have elevated fashion to the status of a religion. Despite extreme economic hardships the Sapeurs will only settle for the likes of Roberto Cavalli, Yohji Yamamoto, Versace, Issey Miyake and Burberry. Set to the soundtrack of Congo's extraordinary music, the film follows the cult's founder and spiritual father, Papa Wemba, the world-famous musician known as 'Le Roi De La Sape' (The King of la Sape). The film starts with Wemba's release on bail in July 2003 from French prison after being charged with smuggling illegal immigrants into Europe for profit. For several months, the filmmakers followed Wemba trying to piece his life back together. Threatened with legal fees and an upcoming trial, he recorded a new album and prepared for an extravagant concert in Paris. Meanwhile his followers, Congolese immigrants living in Paris and Brussels, were busy living the Sapeur lifestyle - constantly hustling for money, keeping up with Papa Wemba's fashion ideology, and pursuing a 'dedication' by Wemba, who is paid a lot of money by his fans in order to sing their names in his new album. Bragging and boasting, loud and proud, constantly advertising themselves and each other, they are stars on a stage they mentally construct in the absence of real ones.