L'Arbre de l'authenticité

Located on the banks of the Congo River, the INERA research station at Yangambi was a thriving scientific center in its heyday. Today, it’s an amalgam of jungle and ruins, where questions of knowledge, power over knowledge and access to knowledge persist.
L’Arbre de l’Authenticité recounts the stigma of the ecological destruction begun at the time of colonization, through the voices of two emblematic scientists who worked in Yangambi from 1910-1950, Paul Panda Farnana and Abiron Beirnaert. Their stories embody the legacies of colonial modernity and trace the origins of today’s environmental injustice.

Running time: 89 minutes
Language: French, Dutch, ST English
Director: Sammy Baloji
Year: 2025
Director of photography: Franck Moka
Script (voice-over): Ellen Meiresonne, David Van Reybrouck, Thomas Hendriks
Voice-over: Edson Anibal, Diederick Peeters
Editing: Luca Mattei
Soundscapes: Chris Watson, Laszlo Umbreit
Mixing: Frédéric Furnelle
Calibration: Miléna Trivier
Producer: Rosa Spaliviero – Twenty Nine Studio & Production
Production manager: Juliette Hourçourigaray
With the support of : Vlaamse Overheid. Departement Cultuur, Jeugd & Media, Vlaams Audiovisueel Fund, Taxshelter.be and ING, Tax Shelter of the Federal Government of Belgium
In association with : ARTE France – La Lucarne
In coproduction with : Last Dreams Production, Shelter Prod