Controversy has continued to trail the 2021 movie by Belgian filmmaker, Thierry Michel, “Empire of Silence” in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The filmmaker is being sued for the documentary made in partnership, with the Balufu brothers.
Local producers, Gilbert Balufu Mbaye, and Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda, accused Michel of plagiarising their 2015 film “The Silence of Forgotten Crimes.”
“What he has done is plagiarism,” said Gilbert Balufu. “Plagiarism is making the same thing as someone else. He used the same narrative structure, as well as the technical cutting and even the synopsis.”
The Balufu brothers have claimed there could be as many as 80 elements of comparison with their film.
“We asked for the comparison of the two films,” said Balufu. “From the comparison we can remove the doubt, we can see who is right and who is wrong but Thierry Michel does not want to put the film at the disposal of justice, so it is already an admission of guilt.”
Reacting to the allegation, the Belgian Michel, denied the accusations and says it is an attack on freedom. “The objective is to ban the film, to seize it, and to sentence me and the producer to 1 to 5 years in prison,” he said.
“Of course, this film is disturbing, there are many people that this film disturbs who are in power in positions that they have acquired through crimes … predation.”
The movie industry worldwide, particularly in Africa is replete with examples wherein similarities can be spotted between two works with respect to main themes, story, characters, screenplay, and dialogues.
With requisite permissions from the owner of rights in the original works and giving credit to the original author invites no legal consequences. In most cases, permissions are not often sought.