“My biggest influence growing up was my dad, who would fill up his notebooks with doodles. So, I started filling up my notebooks with doodles, and soon, drawing became my first love.”

Creativity and continuous learning were engrained in Christian from an early age in Congo-Kinshasa, Africa. “My parents always inspired my younger siblings, Jimmy and Mamy, and myself to read by taking us to libraries every week. This created my interest in storytelling, first in French comics. We would devour comics like Les Adventures de Tintin and Le petit Spirou, just to name a few. When some of these books were turning into animated cartoons, I had found a piece of my calling.”

Seeing his beloved comics transformed into animated cartoons sparked an interest in Christian in graphic design, animation and digital arts that would shape the direction of his education and career. Even from a young age, Christian’s interest in movies was infectious. As a youth in the 1980’s he was hugely influenced by Eddie Murphy’s performance in Beverly Hills Cop I & II. “I wanted to be Axel Foley: fearless and smart with charm and humour.” Although Christian was drawn to the flash and action of the Hollywood blockbuster, he was also drawn to the emotional aspect of films like E.T., The Extra Terrestrial and Starman.

“By the time I got to Canada in 2001, The Matrix, Nutty Professor 2, and Toy Story had changed my view of art in films-not only in the brilliant storytelling, but also in the technology.”

It wasn’t until watching a scene in Wayne’s World 2 that Christian learned of another world of things happening off-screen that aren’t caught on film. “There’s a scene in the movie when a bad actor is replaced by Charlton Heston in a middle of a take. This informed me there was more behind the camera.” As he aged and became exposed to more and more cinema, he not only became intrigued by the world of film direction and production, but also in how technology can be used to tell a story.

During Christian’s most formative years, he and his family moved from their home in Congo-Kinshasa, to different locations in central and southern Africa. Educated in French-language schools prior to emigrating to Canada, one of his most influential teachers during that time was his drawing teacher. “Mr. Trigo, in Congo-Brazzaville in 1994, immediately saw my talent as a young artist and encouraged me to continue to draw.”

Immigrating to Canada at 18 as an international student, Christian’s passion for art and creativity was further fostered during his time at George Brown College in the heart of downtown Toronto. “Two major things happened to me at GBC. The first is that, among other genius artits like Jeff Bermejo, Clarice Gomes, Navid Khorrami, Arlette D’Souza, Lissa Mateus, Priscilla Sekaran and Josh Hy to name a few, I met my long time collaborator in the talented, Staferd Campbell. His hunger and passion for multimedia has been the driving force of all our projects for the past 19 years. The second major thing is that my video and audio professor, Mr. Daniel Joseph, cultivated my editorial skills with his incredible teaching approach”. Known for nurturing young artists and giving them the technical skills they need to succeed in Canada’s tight job market, George Brown College creates an environment for students and faculty to synergize and build their own projects through the inspiration and motivation of the larger collective. Christian’s thesis, a 3D animated short film entitled All Time High, would win a George Brown College New Media Award, in April 2006.

With an arsenal of technical graphic design skills and intense interest in storytelling through film, Christian took on various opportunities to contribute to the film industry in Ontario and Quebec. One of his early supporters in his film career was Annie Coutu, notable Gatineau director of documentaries such as A Woman’s Passion; with unfailing enthusiasm, she encouraged him to produce his first documentary feature film, Canada, The Immigrant Story. “During our meeting, Ms. Annie Coutu taught me that “to make a successful documentary, you should get a clear message that will connect with the audience’ and ‘always answer the WHY in a scene’”.

Christian gained hands-on experience within the Canadian film scene in the early 2010s on projects such as:
– Cameraman and editor for numerous Montreal weddings (2011-2013) with Ernest Makengo, founder of EMK Production.
– Producer and director of the music videos Retouneen (2011) and You Don’t Know Me (2012) for Juelz Records, a former record company in Montreal.
– Producer and director of multiple commercials for the Miss Congo Canada Pageant (2013), founded by Yvette Yende-Ashiri and Barbara Philogène.
– Director of the music video Sway (2014) in Ottawa for singer Miss Lee.

“Working on weddings, music videos and commercials, for years, ignited my burning passion to talk about scene before calling ‘Action!’”

As a result of these experiences and the knowledge he gained as part of film and production crews, Christian felt the pull to start his own venture and create an environment for his creative vision. In 2012, Christian met Imad Al-Sukkari during his internship following an intensive 2-year business administration program at Herzing College. At the time, Imad was working at the Canadian Bureau for International Education. “Even thought I was doing my HR internship,” Christian recalls, “Imad loved my graphic design skills. So, he arranged for me to stay for a couple of months after my internship to contribute my graphic design skills to his work.” The pair became great friends, and when Imad realised that Christian needed to express his creative flame, he agreed to open to a studio together. “I still remember calling Imad, on an evening in spring 2014, after a meeting in Montreal with two studio owners. It was our time!” In 2014, Christian and Imad opened the multimedia graphic and production studio, Madja Entertainment Inc., in the Ottawa region. Their initial vision was to promote diversity of race, class and sex through its various projects.

The first production for Madja Entertainment was the documentary feature, Canada, The Immigrant Story. Together with producers Staferd Campbell, Mamy Kalambay and Vanessa Kammer, Christian produced and directed a film which details the personal immigration histories of 4 immigrants who volunteered at Canada’s 150th birthday celebration in the Ottawa region in 2017. The film won the International Black & Diversity Film Festival (IBDFF).

Christian reflects on his experience on the film with fondness and admiration for those involved. “The feature film documentary was a first for my production company, Madja Entertainment,” he said. “This film about Canada was championed by everyone, from the team at the Heritage Canada volunteer program, led by Chantal Tremblay, to Boston Pizza public media and relations team. Most importantly, I was very fortunate to have had the privilege of telling the story of these four incredible people, Belinda, Kamlesh, Nayla and Zulf, whose patriotism amazes me.”

The experience of producing, directing, editing Canada, The Immigrant Story demonstrated for Christian that the challenges he faces as a minority filmmaker are shared with other minority artists and people of colour who face ingrained cultural barriers and societal hurdles to speaking out and telling their own stories. As Christian explains, “The biggest challenge, for any emerging filmmaker, is making compelling films with no budget. It is just like climbing a dangrous montain without any ropes. Few have made it to the top, but many have not. When you are a minority, it is even harder.”

In 2020, in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, Christian created the series Covidsation; through a scripted, anthology format, the show highlights the consequences of isolation, the suffering of fear and the impacts of the pandemic on individual mental health and interpersonal relationships. The film is a touchstone of the current era and the premiere episode was selected for numerous festivals in 2021, including the Phoenix Short Film Festival (Official Selection), Stockholm City Film Festival (Finalist) and Standalon Film Festival and Awards (Official Selection).

The first episode in Christian’s poignant new series was also awarded the Best Narrative Short Award at the Toronto Film Channel Awards (2021). Additional episodes of the series are currently in production.

Christian’s vision for the future of both his company and his own artistic efforts is to showcase those immigrant stories by providing an environment to encourage and support other filmmakers who are inspired to document their own histories.

“The stories of visible minorities need to be told, so that others can get to know us a little better.” With limitless possibilities for the future, Christian and Madja Entertainment are paving the way for more diverse Canadian cinema and an explosion of talented filmmakers empowered to share their perspectives. Through film, Christian strives to enable all Canadians to better understand their cultures, histories and place within the fabric of Canada.

“The stories of visible minorities need to be told, so that others can get to know us a little better.” With limitless possibilities for the future, Christian and Madja Entertainment are paving the way for more diverse Canadian cinema and an explosion of talented filmmakers empowered to share their perspectives. Through film, Christian strives to enable all Canadians to better understand their cultures, histories and place within the fabric of Canada.

“Canada, The Immigrant Story is not only a tribute to immigrants who have contributed to make this country shine, but is also an act of gratitude for the open-minedness shown by Canada in facilitating our integration.”

In this story: Special thanks to Mamy Kalambay at The Fashion Escape & Chrystelle Wade Okwo.

Watch the trailer of ‘Canada, The Immigrant Story’.