Onder het witte masker: de film die Haesaerts had kunnen maken

ONDER HET WITTE MASKER: DE FILM DIE HAESAERTS HAD KUNNEN MAKEN is a film that uses fragments from UNDER THE BLACK MASK, an 1958 film about Congolese art directed by the Belgian artist Paul Haesaerts and qualified as colonial propaganda. This new piece imagines what the masks would have said. Aimé Césaire’s “Discourse on Colonialism” is spoken in Lingala for the first time. His words still form a confrontational mirror for Europe. In an attempt at reparation, the film limits itself to images, texts, and music already available to Haesaerts.

Matthias De Groof is a philosopher, film scholar, and filmmaker.

Production Daniel De Valck. Production company Cobra Films (Brüssel, Belgium). Written and directed by Matthias De Groof. Cinematography Art et Cinema. Editing Neel Cockx, Matthias De Groof. Sound design Neel Cockx. With Maravilha Munto (Voice). 

World sales Kino Rebelde

Films

2008: ôtre k’ôtre (with Kristin Rogghe, video installation), A la mode des ancêtres (video installation), Jerusalem, the Adulterous Wife (8 min.). 2010: Lobi (Hier / Demain (with Kristin Rogghe, Pierre Kigoma, Mekhar Azari, Tocha Zaventen, Amourabinto Lukoji, Rek Kandol, Eric Biansueki, Androa Mindre, 35 min.). 2012: Ceci n’est pas un documentaire sur Louvain-la-Neuve (14 min.). 2018: Lobi Kuna (avant-hier / après-demain (45 min.), Diorama (35 min.). 2019: Palimpsest of the Africa Museum (69 min.). 2020: Onder het witte masker: de film die Haesaerts had kunnen maken / Under the White Mask: The Film That Haesaerts Could Have Made.