THE LAST COLONIALS
By Thierry Michel
A coproduction Les Films de la Passerelle, La Sept/ARTE, Zeaux Productions, RTBF, CBA, Ministère de la Communauté Française. With the support of Fonds EURIMAGES.
Synopsis
While he was preparing this documentary feature about the: while population still living in Zaire, Thierry Michel was arrested, sent to Gail and then expulsed from the country. So because of the lack of a professional filming he decided to use the video pictures he look himself during his previous trips during which he kept a logbook.
«The Last Colonials» is an intense and tragic film, but not without humour about the white population still living in Zaire. It depicts some key characters and spotlights of their life as expatriates in Zaire.
Whether they are adventurers, predators or builders, there are still a few thousands of «Last Colonials» living in this country which used to be called the Belgian Congo. They are managers, missionaries, businessmen and land owners who settled in the heart of Africa. They decided to remain there in spite of the violence, the danger and sometimes fright.
They look back on the «good old days of the colonial era» and live through the havoc of what they once thought would be a new Eduardo. Some are heavily armed and others wait for a recolonization which could very well never occur.
Thierry Michel filmed this slow political and economic suffocation characterized by riots and pillages. He witnessed the massive exodus of expatriates and the end of the Whiteman's dream in black Africa.
Through interviews of these «Last Colonials», we discover the state of a country on the verge of bankrupted after having been independent for 35 years and under a dictatorship for a quarter of a century
Technical sheet
Year: 1995
Duration: 61'
Language: French
Screenplay & Direction: Thierry Michel
Music: Marc Herouet
Mixing: Jacques Clisse
Editing: Marine Deleu
Producer:
Christine Pireaux - Les Films de la Passerelle
Stills
Festival selections (16)
Brussels International Film Festival
FIPA 1995 - Nice
Futura Prize 1995 - Berlin
Ouagadougou Pan-African Festival - Burkina Faso
Media North South - Geneva
Africano Cinema Festival - Milan
Views of Africa - Montreal
Margared Mead Film Festival - USA
Cork Film Festival - Ireland
Filming At Any Cost - Brussels
Amascultura - Portugal
Black Movie - Geneva
L'Alternativa 96 - Barcelona
Bombay International Film Festival
Views of the docs - Marseilles
International Maritime and Exploration Film Festival - Toulouse
Awards (2)
★Ecrans Nord Sud Prize at the 11th International Festival
“Views of Africa” from Montreal
★Honorable Mention in the 19th centuryInternational Festival
Maritime and Exploration Film