Broken view

Broken view

Hannes Verhoustraete 1h 12min
Trailer

Original title : Broken view

Directed by : Hannes Verhoustraete

Broken view (2023) is a documentary by Hannes Verhoustraete, selected in the “Competition prix SAUVAGE Prize Competitio” section of the 19th edition of the Paris European Film Festival, Europe by Europe.

Synopsis :

During the colonization of Congo by Belgium, the magic lantern, an ancestor of projection devices, was used during evening gatherings to present to sometimes reluctant audiences the Belgian colonial project. Hannes Verhoustraete mobilizes the images projected during these gatherings, directly designed to promote the state, the church, and Belgian industry, and exposes a complex thought on these glass slides forever marked by the colonial gaze.

Photos

Reviews

“Demanding but fascinating, Broken View masterfully questions the question of how we see others. Another that had to be represented as as different as possible.”
Hubert Heyrendt.

“Powerful and profound analysis of the colonial mechanism through images, highlighting the deaf violence captured by the cameras, Broken View traces as much the history of a medium as that of a country, attempting to hide a sometimes shameful past which still sometimes seeps into our daily lives.”
Kévin Giraud.

« Broken View doesn’t shy away from the ambiguity and appeal of the hand-coloured photos which were used to impose the racist discourse of the Belgian colonial nightmare. Instead, it captures the diabolical essence of the latter, conveying its mind-numbing complexity, in an accumulation of quotations and overexposure of images and texts which turn it into a jam-packed and painful essay, as well as an aesthetically exhilarating film. »
Roberto Oggiano.

Go to Top