For 100 years Africa has preserved the legend of the Italian explorer Pietro Savorgnan di Brazzà, calling to him in the darkness with the beat of their drums. Now the waiting is over. The spirit of the white campaigner returns to his river, the river Congo. In the film, the dream of this “barefoot unarmed” explorer who at the end of the nineteenth century, dared to denounce French colonial abuse, is intertwined with ongoing examples of exploitation in present day Congo. Precious archive b-roll from INA, Pathè Gaumont and Archivi Capitolini tell a romantic story of another era that sheds light on the cynical attitude of today’s ruling powers – the colonialism and neo-colonialism that continue to plunder Africa’s resources.
The film premiered at the Italian Cultural Centre in New York. It has been broadcasted on Histoire in France and on RAI in Italy and has been screened at different festivals including Fespaco Film Festival in Burkina Faso-Africa.