On June 8, the Vendôme cinema in the municipality of Ixelles (Brussels/Belgium) hosted a preview of the documentary film “Lumumba, the return of a hero”, directed by Benoît Feyt, Dieudo Hamadi and Quentin Noirfalisse.
This one hour 26 minute film recounts the political celebrations of the return of the remains of Patrice Lumumba, assassinated in 1961. Above all, it seeks to find out what remains of Patrice Lumumba, in the Congo and in Belgium. A meeting was organized with the directors to give viewers the opportunity to find out more about this story.
The body of the Congolese independence hero had been dissolved in acid, and it took until 2016 to discover that human remains had been kept in Belgium. That year, the former Belgian policeman Gérard Soete breaks the secret and brags about it in the media.
His death and those of two of his collaborators, Okito and Mpolo, remain unpunished. In 2000-2001, a parliamentary commission of inquiry “concluded that the Belgian government had manifestly disregarded the physical integrity of Patrice Lumumba and that after his assassination, this same government deliberately spread lies about the circumstances of his death”.
With this documentary, the directors have attempted to bring one of the most iconic heroes in the history of African independence to life, telling the stories of those who witnessed his life and death, and revealing the real reasons for his disappearance.
The story of Patrice Lumumba reminds the Congolese and the world of the importance of the struggle for independence and the defense of democratic values that have been so dearly won. It should also inspire younger generations to fight for their own freedom and social equality.