SPECIAL SCREENING: The Discoverer of the Discoverers

In «The Discoverer of the Discoverers», a family in the West African republic of Benin re-tells their version of their ancestors’ first encounter with Europeans — to a European film crew. We are told how the hunter Kpatè first eyed a Portuguese ship off the Atlantic coast in 1548, and how he induced them to make landfall. We are allowed a peek into how this encounter is still remembered, ritually, and get to hear some perhaps astonishing views on this turning point in history. But do all the claims about the historic event bear a closer look? To which degree can we trust the filmmaker’s white gaze? And how do the characters and the film crew relate to one another, 500 years after the onset of the Atlantic Slave Trade, colonialism and globalism? This short documentary gives a glimpse into the way in which history is storytelling, and how pride and conscience may affect collective memories.

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This is a part of the Norwegian Short Film Program (see here) & the art exhibition at Sukkerbiten (see here).