L’Arbre d’Authenticité (The Tree of Authenticity)
Dir. Sammy Baloji Democratic Rep. Congo / Belgium 2025 85’ (adv. 12A)
French and Dutch with English subtitles | Digital video
Located on the banks of the Congo River, the Yangambi INERA Research Station was a booming scientific centre in its heyday. Today, it is an amalgam of jungle and ruin, where questions of knowledge, power and access to it linger, haunted by the ghosts of a Western imperialism which sought to impose total control over its colonial subjects.
Shot with the eye of a photographer and mind of a forensic archaeologist, The Tree of Authenticity recounts the ecological destruction that began at the time of colonisation through the voices of Paul Panda Farnana and Abiron Beirnært, two scientists who worked at Yangambi between 1910 and 1950. Their stories embody the legacies of colonial modernity and trace the origins of today’s environmental injustice.
“In the heart of the Congo rainforest, the remains of a research center dedicated to tropical agriculture reveal the burden of the colonial past and its inextricable links to climate change. This three-part essay (winner of the Tiger Special Jury Award at this year’s International Film Festival Rotterdam) offers a compelling analysis of Belgian colonial history, the consequences of which can still be observed today.” —Visions du Réel
Part of Baltic Cinema’s Currents strand, presenting new films from across the world.
Level 1 Cinema
Doors open 6.30pm; Film starts 6.45pm. Baltic Kitchen is open until 6.30pm for drinks, which you are welcome to take up to the cinema.
