Documentary about the Belgian Congo (In English)

Yes, this film has a story...

Having spent time in the Congo from 1948 to 1951 working for a colonial company, Robert Bodson, the author, decides to study marketing at New York University. He was shocked by the opinion of the Americans and foreign students he met on Belgian colonial policy. At the end of his studies (in 1952), he decided to undertake a lecture tour in the United States to make it better known.

He was put in touch with Mr Pierre Ryckmans, former governor general of the Congo, who was at that time Belgium's ambassador to the UN. He gave him advice and unofficial support, while advising him to find financial aid to undertake his tour.

The 28,000 km tour included 33 conferences (universities, rotary, high schools, chambers of commerce, etc.) and 7 radio and television interviews. He brought back a report to the Belgian government on the questions the Americans had about the Congo.

This report led to the setting up of a commission to look into the problem of information about the Congo. This commission soon invited Robert Bodson to go on a lecture tour of the Congo (end of '53, beginning of '54) to meet the provincial governors and the general public in order to inform them about the opinion of Belgian colonial policy abroad.

As an amateur filmmaker, Robert Bodson decided to make a film on his own initiative. He borrowed money from a friend to buy a 16 mm camera and the necessary film stock. The film should help to answer the questions asked and to make the real Congo known.

The lecture tour was a success. Back home, R. Bodson proposed his film to the Congo Information Centre, which lost interest because it was filmed by a non-professional.

Mr Ryckmans encouraged R. Bodson to edit his film despite this refusal. With the help of amateur filmmaker friends, the film was produced under the title "Réalités congolaises". It was presented at the annual dinner of the Mars et Mercure circle in Brussels on 8 September 1954 in the presence of the Minister of Colonies at the time, Mr Buisseret and many other personalities.

A few weeks later, R. Bodson was invited by King Leopold to present his film at the Château de Laeken, as part of the preparations for King Baudouin's trip to Congo. The entire royal family was present. The report on the trip is discussed.

King Baudouin's trip to the Congo led to the production of a film, which was made with considerable resources, but when it was released, it was hardly favoured by the Belgian ambassadors abroad, who complained to King Baudouin. The latter advised them to contact R. Bodson to find out about the film "Réalités Congolaises". This was done during a presentation at the Cercle Royal Africain.

Contacted shortly afterwards by the Congo Information Centre, our filmmaker, wanting to show his disinterestedness, sold the film back to them at cost price and without asking for any royalties. Handed over to professionals, the film was produced in 5 languages: French, Dutch, German, English and Spanish. It became a reference film and copies were sent to the UN and to diplomatic posts.

This film was therefore originally produced without subsidies and no criteria were imposed by the authorities in the editing and commentary. It is therefore a purely personal account.

In July 1996, the RTBF programme "Inédits" devoted three programmes to Robert Bodson's information enterprise.

At the beginning of 2005, the association "Mémoires du Congo" and its Dutch-speaking twin sister "Afrikagetuigenissen" discovered this film. Impressed by the images, these associations immediately decided to make a multilingual DVD, which would be widely distributed.

To this end, a studio specialising in the reconditioning of old films was called in, which succeeded in producing three perfectly regenerated versions (French, Dutch and English) using the best images recovered from the various old films found.

Thanks to this initiative, this film, made half a century ago, has been given a new lease of life and is once again a valuable tool for providing information on Belgian work in Central Africa.

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