Lumumba - The Return of a Hero (2023)

Africadelic Festival presents the première of this documentary about the Congolese politician Patrice Lumumba. 61 years after his assassination, Patrice Lumumba returns to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Or, as one of his children says, ‘the Congo returns to the Congo’. Lumumba was assassinated with two of his closest collaborators, in the middle of the Cold War and during the wave of African independence. Only one tooth appears to have survived the passage of their bodies in acid, an act committed by a Belgian police officer. This film recounts the highly political celebrations of the return of Lumumba's remains, but above all seeks to find out what remains of Patrice Lumumba, in the Congo and in Belgium. So far, his murder and those of Okito and Mpolo remain unpunished. 

Before the film two short films will be screened. The Kibomango Story tells the incredible story of Kibomango (1977), a former child soldier turned Congolese national boxing champion. Now a struggling mechanic, he has devoted himself to helping former child soldiers and street children of Goma through boxing. Kibomango aims to instill in them a sense of discipline, ambition and self-worth.

The other short is Ota Benga, an animated film that captures a moment in the true story of Ota Benga (1883-1916), the pygmy exhibited at the Bronx Zoo. Desperate to return to the Congo rainforest but trapped in Lynchburg, Virginia, Ota Benga reflects on being bought by so-called "civilized society" and treated like an animal. A passionate call by fire to return to his ancestors.

The films will be introduced by social political justice and human rights activist Kamayugi Muhammed Ally, who is the founder of the African Refugees Collective and Free Congo movement in the Netherlands.

Melkweg often hosts different types of programmes at the same time, such as concerts, club nights and films. Please note that there may occasionally be some noise pollution from other programmes during the screening.