A night of rediscovered heritage
On 11 October, CanalOlympia Brazzaville opens its doors to a highly anticipated premiere, Mémoires du Cfrad, a sweeping historical feature that carries viewers from 1904 to 2024. The screening doubles as a celebration of the capital’s heart-beat and an act of cultural stewardship.
Local cinephiles, historians and students are expected to fill the 300-seat hall, eager to revisit legendary figures ranging from General de Gaulle and Robert Brazza to modern voices like poet-performer Mariusca Moukengue. Each personality threads into a tapestry portraying the nation’s multifaceted journey.
Who is Hassim Tall?
The project is helmed by Hassim Tall Boukambou, born in Brazzaville on 8 July 1972. Filmmaker, archivist and passionate guardian of memory, he rose to prominence with his documentary trilogy Révolutionnaire(s), chronicling the 1963 Trois Glorieuses and other decisive chapters in Congolese politics.
Tall’s filmography also includes Couleurs-urbaines Brazzaville and Brazzaville, affectionate portraits of the city’s rhythms, markets and street arts. Speaking to our newsroom, he said the new film aims “not only to tell a story but to preserve what might otherwise fade from collective recall”.
The legacy of the CFRAD building
At the heart of the narrative stands the Centre for Training and Research in Dramatic Arts, better known as CFRAD. Long neglected, the colonial-era edifice is undergoing a state-backed rehabilitation intended to restore classrooms, rehearsal studios and a permanent exhibition on its turbulent past.
The building once housed the French Civil and Military Club, later hosting the historic 1944 Brazzaville Conference led by General de Gaulle. In the decades that followed, it nurtured generations of actors before falling silent. The film resurrects those echoes with meticulous archival footage and testimony.
Film as cultural wake-up call
Mémoires du Cfrad arrives just as authorities intensify efforts to safeguard national heritage. The Ministry of Culture has encouraged citizens to donate photos, playbills and personal artifacts unearthed during the renovation. That public mobilisation feeds the documentary’s emotional core and gives fresh life to forgotten drawers.
Tall positions the movie as a bridge between elders who lived the events and young Congolese eager for roots in a fast-changing world. “Our memory is not a museum showcase,” he insists. “It is a compass.” The premiere therefore mixes entertainment with civic pedagogy.
What the audience can expect
Running just over two hours, the film alternates restored newsreels with dramatized sequences shot inside the stripped-down CFRAD shell before reconstruction began. A lush original score, recorded by local brass players and choirs, ties the eras together while foregrounding Congo’s distinctive sonic identity.
Spectators will also notice subtle animation overlays that highlight architectural plans and handwritten letters, allowing coded wartime messages to appear on screen. The technique, borrowed from Tall’s earlier work, makes historical documents both legible and visually engaging for digital-native viewers.
A broader renaissance of Brazzaville arts
Beyond the screen, the evening’s programme features a small pop-up gallery of salvaged play posters and costumes, plus live drumming on the esplanade. City officials say such hybrid events foreshadow the cultural corridor envisaged along Avenue de la Paix once CFRAD reopens.
Economic ripple effects are already visible, with nearby cafés hiring extra staff and ride-hailing drivers reporting a spike in bookings for premiere night. The Chamber of Commerce argues that heritage-based tourism could become a resilient complement to petroleum revenues, generating local jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities.
Local authorities underline that the renovation budget, financed through a public-private partnership, prioritises Congolese contractors and artisans, ensuring skills transfer in carpentry, acoustics and stage lighting that will outlive the film project and strengthen the creative economy for years to come.
Academics from Marien Ngouabi University applaud the initiative as an informal classroom. “Films like this democratise research that would otherwise stay locked in theses,” notes historian Clément Mouanda. He plans to assign the documentary in his modern-history course, offering students sensory access to primary material.
Diaspora networks are equally attentive. Several Parisian associations have booked group tickets while lobbying for a European tour. Streaming negotiations are reported to be under way with an Africa-focused platform, potentially expanding the film’s reach to Congolese abroad who rarely see homegrown narratives.
Tall remains cautious about expectations. “A single film cannot carry every memory, but it can open a dialogue,” he says. He emphasizes that follow-up workshops will invite school groups to produce short videos about their neighbourhoods, building a living archive alongside the refurbished walls.
Tickets are on sale at CFA 3,000, with a reduced rate for students upon presentation of valid ID. Organisers advise arriving early, as security checks and health protocols remain in place. Doors open at 17:30; the screening starts sharply at 18:00, followed by a Q&A.
As lights dim and the first images flicker, Brazzaville will, for one night, watch itself evolve on the big screen. In the words of Tall, “Remembering is a form of dreaming forward.” With Mémoires du Cfrad, the city begins that dream in earnest.