About

Aunel Arneth Kimbembe Makaya is a journalist and documentary filmmaker originally from the Republic of Congo. His work explores African social movements, authoritarianism, and democracy in Africa, as well as the migratory experiences of Black people.

Growing up in Brazzaville, his passion for cinema was ignited in 1999 following the forced disappearance of his cousin Freddy and other acquaintances from his family, among the 352 Congolese from the south who were abducted by the Congolese police during the return of refugees at the Brazzaville embarkation point in 1998. For Aunel, filmmaking is a way to resist oppression; thus, his films primarily aim to give voice to marginalized communities and to denounce inequalities.

He holds two degrees: one in sociology, obtained from the University of Strasbourg in France, and the other in journalism from the École supérieure de journalisme de Lille (ESJ-Lille) at the University of Lille 1 in France. He also has a master’s degree in documentary filmmaking from the Université Gaston Berger in Saint-Louis, Senegal, and a certificate in African studies from the Institute of Political Studies at the University of Bordeaux (France).

His first film, Keep Quiet or Die, received international recognition for its poignant representation of electoral violence in the Republic of Congo. Broadcast on MyMedia Prime and Canal+ Afrique, this documentary reached a wide audience throughout French-speaking Africa and was screened in prestigious institutions, such as the French Senate and the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, D.C., as well as in several other capitals in the United States and around the world.

Since the release of Keep Quiet or Die in 2020, Aunel has been living in exile in the United States. In 2021, he was honored with the "Artist Protection Fund" grant, which allowed him to reside at the City of Asylum in Pittsburgh for a year. The following year, he was a visiting researcher at the University of Pittsburgh as part of the Scholars at Risk program. In 2023, he received a $20,000 Heinz Creative Award for his research related to his upcoming film, Lettre à Maya. Currently, Aunel works as an intern journalist in the Francophone Africa department of Voice of America, a U.S. government broadcasting service based in Washington, D.C.