The extraordinary and tragic saga of 267 Congolese, brought to Brussels for the 1897 World's Fair. After some four months of travel towards Belgium, they are exhibited before a million visitors. Subjected to the crushing gaze of the "Whites" and the cold climate, many fell prey to disease and even some lost their lives. The dead were hastily dispatched in a common grave, sparking a fierce debate in Belgian society. The project was overblown, but necessary in the eyes of the first colonizers, who presumed to have tamed the far-flung savages. One hundred years later, Congolese compatriots return to the scene of these events and question the "Whites" of today on the incredible story of that "human zoo". They carry out the ritual of "a return to the earth" by way of reparation for too great a hurt…
One hundred years later, Congolese scholars and compatriots revisit the scene of the events. The documentary focuses on interviews with current Congolese scholars visiting the exhibit site to explore the and discuss the experience. The documentary also follows a group of people conducting a ritual ceremony of reburial for those who died there.
A film that revisits a century of stereotyped conceptions about the Africans. And running through it, the almost aching question: "How is today different?"


Originally made as a program for Belgian television.

Documentary 54 min, 2000
Beta digital 16/9 color
OV French

Director Francis Dujardin
Photography: Louis-Philippe Cappelle
Editor: Eva Houdova-Mathias.
Sound Marc Engels

Production Cobra films (Belgique)
Coproduction Triangle 7 (Belgique)
Coproduction WIP (Liège)
Coproduction RTBF (Télévsion belge)
Coproduction VRT Canvas (Belgique)
With the support of Ministère de la Communauté Française de Belgique
With the support of Commission européenne - Plan MEDIA
With the help of Délégation de la Communauté française de Belgique à Kinshasa

Distribution
WIP (Belgique)

FESTIVALS / PRIX / AWARDS / DISTINCTIONS / TELEVISIONS

Chaîne HISTOIRE (France)
> Dimanche 19 mars 2006 - 21h50

Festivals Cinéma indépendant de Bruxelles (Belgique)
Racines noires - Paris - 2002 (France)
Deutsches Filmmuseum Africa Alive Festival 2006

Prices
Festival International de Genève "Média Nord-Sud" (CH),
Festival international de Bruxelles (B)

Diffusions
RTBF, VRT, Canal+ (Belgique),
Histoire (France),
TSR (Suisse),
Historia (Canada),
MTV3 (Finlande)