In the middle of a photo ses­sion in the Royal Museum for Cen­tral Africa in Bel­gium, a pho­tog­ra­ph­er is dis­turbed by the images cap­tured, macabre mem­o­ries, a mau­soleum of his cul­tur­al her­itage. Pos­sessed by the objects in the museum, he is over­whelmed by a sense of alien­ation from these arte­facts. This pow­er­ful and mys­te­ri­ous film nav­i­gates between fic­tion and real­i­ty, colo­nial­ism and muse­ol­o­gy, rais­ing ques­tions about appro­pri­a­tion and cul­tur­al iden­ti­ty. A unique and dream­like work that takes view­ers on a voyage from tra­di­tion, to moder­ni­ty, to futur­ism. (lefifa.com)  

This film will be screened simul­ta­ne­ous­ly at Unseen as part of our #Junction_Nairobi, fol­lowed by a shared discussion.

Matthias De Groof, born 1981 in Bel­gium, is a film­mak­er and schol­ar. Cur­rent­ly a fac­ul­ty member of the Uni­ver­si­ty of Ams­ter­dam. His award-win­ning films LOBI KUNA and PALIMPSEST OF THE AFRICA MUSEUM (2019) have been select­ed at IFFR, Le FIFA and the Berli­nale, among others. He edited a book on “Lumum­ba in the Arts” (2020) which reached the top-100 “books to escape the news”. He has held fellow appoint­ments at the New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and the Waseda Uni­ver­si­ty in Tokyo.  

Direc­tor: Matthias De Groof
Script: Mehkar Azari Kiyoso, Matthias De Groof
Key Cast: Mekhar Azari Kiyoso