Share this article Share
Villa Madjo by Elen Sylla Grollimund
Based on the fact that her white father was born in Africa and her black mother in Europe, this first short documentary explores the complex history of her family, from colonialism to their experience as an interracial couple in Europe between the 1950s and 1970s.
Elen Sylla Grollimund is a photographer, video-maker and broadcaster based in Brussels. After studying photography at the LABA in Brescia (Italy), she worked in Paris and for various artists in the music industry. In Brussels, she joined Atelier Graphoui in 2019, where she runs film projects and workshops such as Mouvement d’identité (Identity Movement) (2019), Et la lumière fût et autres illuminations (Then There Was Light and other Illuminations) (2019), Ceci n’est pas une fiction (This Is Not Fiction) (2019), Le Fil(M)agique (2019) and 7 jours sur 7 (7 Days a Week) (Triennial of Contemporary Art, Louvain-la-Neuve 2021).?
Tales from the Source by Léonard Pongo
Tales from the Source explores the landscapes of the Democratic Republic of Congo, highlighting their power, diversity and the symbolism of Congolese traditions. The landscape becomes a living character, animated by multispectral imagery, creating a sensory dialogue with a world of supernatural colours. Accompanied by the music of Bear Bones, Lay Low, the film plunges us into an intelligent landscape in constant transformation.
Léonard Pongo, photographer and visual artist, has won an award for The Uncanny, produced in the DRC and published by Gostbooks. His Primordial Earth project was presented at the Lubumbashi Biennial, the Rencontres de Bamako, Bozar and Mu.ZEE. Through his work, he puts forward an allegorical imagery of the DRC, where the earth embodies tradition, philosophy and visions of the universe. Léonard Pongo lives between Brussels and Kinshasa, dividing his time between his projects in the DRC and teaching. He is a member of ‘The Photographic Collective’.