The return of Patrice Lumumba will be the subject of a documentary film entitled “Lumumba, the return of a hero”. This film produced by Benoît Feyt, Dieudo Hamadi and Quentin Noirfalisse will premiere on June 8 at the Vendôme cinema in Ixelles, Belgium. The documentary reveals the commemorative celebration of Patrice Lumumba and his close collaborators murdered in 1961. This film lasts 1h26 and gives an overview of what remains of Patrice Lumumba, both in Congo and in Belgium.
Former Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba remains a symbol of Congolese independence, vainly venerated in his country of origin. He was assassinated with two of his close collaborators in the middle of the Cold War and during the wave of African independence. Only one tooth seems to have survived the passage of their bodies in acid, an act committed by a Belgian police officer named Gérard Soete.
Patrice Lumumba’s body was never found since it was dissolved in acid. In 2016, it was discovered that human remains had been kept in Belgium. This revelation led to an official ceremony in honor of the hero of independence. The directors of this film wanted to investigate the reasons why his murder and that of his relatives remain unpunished until today.
The film is also an opportunity to retrace the luminous journey of Patrice Lumumba, born under the name of Elias Okit’Asombo in Onalua, a locality located in the current province of Sankuru, in the center of the DRC. He was from a modest family but received a solid education in Christian missionary schools. He was thus able to forge a strong personality that made him a charismatic and revolutionary leader.
On the sidelines of the screening, a meeting will be organized with the directors of the film to discuss the situation prevailing in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as the consequences of the assassination of Lumumba. The film will make it possible to evoke the stakes of the commemoration of such a historical figure, who continues to influence political debates in the DRC today.