Childhood pictures, the departure from Zaire when I was 10, my friends Watumu, Angi and Amosi, the big shift from a culture to another, identity, memories and footage...
Studio project (2010) by Robert-Jan Lacombe
Documentary / 11min
Synopsis
Through the rediscovery of archival images long kept at my grandparents' home in Bordeaux, I tell the story of my childhood in Mandima, a small village in northeastern Zaire where I was born. Starting with a panoramic photo of the big departure, I observe and think back, photo after photo, to those first 10 years of this little boy who must, one fine day, leave for the city, for high school. Behind him, he leaves his friends and a whole culture. Life, its mentality, its rules, will have to be relearned.
Comment
Film about childhood with false innocence. 1 voice + photos. Cut, framed, reframed, revisited, assembled. Which tell us that getting on a (small) plane is not an easy thing. And that it is sometimes equivalent to a decisive step.
Jean-Stéphane Bron / Director
Festivals
BA FILM STUDIES
with Marie-Eve Hildbrand
The 2026 documentary film workshop for 1st year students was lead by swiss director Marie-Eve Hildbrand.
BA FILM STUDIES
with Verena Paravel
The 2026 documentary film workshop for 2nd year students was lead by french director and visual anthropologist Verena Paravel.
BA FILM STUDIES
with Marie-Elsa Sgualdo
The 2026 fiction film workshop for 2nd year students was lead by swiss director Marie-Elsa Sgualdo.
BA FILM STUDIES
Workshop led by Michael William Farino, Jonathan Ricardo Argudo and Herbert Mayer and given to students in the Bachelor's degree programmes in Cinema and Industrial Design.
BA FILM STUDIES
by Noé Bregnard, Eva Rust, Victor Durand Matinella, Lou Haenggi, Samuel Harari, Hana Magimel, Nolan Grando, Mileny Viera de Andrade, Zélia Zanone
Second-year Bachelor's students attended a workshop with Belgian cinematographer Benoît Dervaux, known for his work on the Dardenne brothers' films. He was responsible for the cinematography on the Swiss films Laissez-moi by Maxime Rappaz (2023) and À bras-le-corps by Marie-Elsa Sgualdo (2025).