Nestled in Africa’s largest rainforest lies one of the many graves of the West’s efforts to control nations and nature–one of the world’s largest tropical agricultural research centers. Located on the banks of the Congo River, the Yangambi INERA Research Station was a booming scientific center in its heyday. Today, it is an amalgam of jungle and ruin, where questions of knowledge, power over it, and access to it linger. This film recounts the stigma of ecological destruction that began at the time of colonisation through the voices of two emblematic scientists who worked at Yangambi between 1910 and 1950: Paul Panda Farnana and Abiron Beirnaert. Their stories embody the legacies of colonial modernity and trace the origins of today’s environmental injustice.
Sammy Baloji
Since 2005, Sammy Baloji has been exploring the memory and history of the Democratic Republic of Congo. His work is an ongoing research on the cultural, architectural and industrial heritage of the Katanga region, as well as a questioning of the impact of Belgian colonization.
Rosa Spaliviero
Producer Rosa Spaliviero supports filmmakers in their most daring film projects with a strong social or political dimension. She chooses to produce films that show an openness to the world with a unique aesthetic device.
Congo was colonized by Belgium under the regime of Leopold II. Disguising itself as a “civilizing” mission, he convinced European powers to recognize his claim of the Congo as his private property. He never once touched Congo. As if it is his own, he named it the “Congo Free State.” Although, there was no freedom…
