This introduction by Matthias de Groof was given for the workshop Memory / History: The Power of Decolonialization, Art and Interventions (with Monique Mbeka Phoba, Laura Nsengiyumva, Womba Konga aka Pitcho).
Matthias De Groof has a strong interest in film theory and film making, Congo and (post)colonialism. He is a master in Philosophy (KUL), International Relations (UCL) and Cinema Studies (UA). He studied African Studies at UMU (Uganda) and became a Fulbright and BAEF visiting scholar at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. His PhD in Cinema Studies looked at African cinema through the oeuvre of Cameroonian filmmaker Jean-Pierre Bekolo. As a Postdoctoral Fellow of the Research Foundation—Flanders (FWO), he studied postcolonial film theory at the Antwerp University where he also teaches World Cinema, Aesthetics (Philosophy of Art) and Curating & Exhibiting. His scholarly work has been published in Third Text, Columbia University Press and Image [&] Narrative amongst others. He is regularly asked to talk and write in non-academic contexts and to curate film programs. His own films have been presented i.e. at the Rotterdam Film Festival, Media City and the San Francisco Art Institute. Currently, he is affiliated to the Collegium for Advanced Studies in Helsinki and part of Cobra Films Production.
Date: 03/05/2018
Place: “leSpace”, Brussels (Belgium)
Filming: Muzaffer Hasaltay
Editing: Marina Gržinić, Valerija Zabret
Transcript (French): Brancika Brankov
Translation (French-English): Sonja Gobec