“Colonialism is not a thinking machine, nor a body endowed with reasoning and faculties. It is violence in its natural state, and it will only yield when confronted with greater violence.”
– Frantz Fanon
April 30th, 2014: Decolonization is the violent process that sets out to change world order with the final chapter ending in a greater humanity for all. The liberation from colonial rulers and their imperial allies in Africa was always the end game after generations of oppression. Framing this story from the teachings of Martinique-born psychiatrist and philosopher Frantz Fanon’s 1960 landmark polemic, The Wretched of the Earth, with pointed narration by activist and songstress Ms. Lauryn Hill, “Concerning Violence” takes searing look at Africa’s Independence Movement after WWII and its ongoing struggle for liberation from colonial rule.
With the normalization of colour based privilege predicated on indentured servitude and cheap labour within the African diaspora, Director, Göran Hugo Olsson gives a voice to this power imbalance starting in the 60’s through nine distinct stories of anti-imperialistic self-defence. From military operations in Cabinda near the Congo border to the liberation of Angola; from the Liberian miner’s strike through to the changing face of Rhodesia and Burkina Faso, Fanon’s ideologies of African injustice get a fresh take through the marriage of newly discovered archival footage. With clarity, Olsson reveals the heart-wrenching evolution of Empire Building and the extrication of Africa’s natural resources through war crimes, an avalanche of murders, deportations, forced labour and slavery.
Verdict: 4.0 out of 5: Concerning Violence couldn’t have been a further departure from Olsson’s 2011 ground breaking, The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975. And yet the narrative structure which gave new meaning to Fanon’s words strikes a familiar chord in the arenas of civil liberties and subjugation. Never scarce on content, Olsson’s archival bounty reaped a dense collage of battles, protests and their grisly aftermath. Concerning Violence reasserts the chasm of separation between the classes as it forces us meditate on the Africa of today. Once again, Olsson’s complete mastery of his subject matter is clearly defined throughout.
Final Thought: It has been over 50 years since Fanon released The Wretched of the Earth, and what has really changed.
Genre: Documentary, Activism & Protest
Language: Swedish, English, French, Portuguese and Makonde with subtitles
Country: Sweden, USA, Denmark, Finland
Release Date: April 2014
Based on the Book: The Wretched of the Earth
Author: Frantz Fanon
Narrated by: Ms. Lauryn Hill
Preface by: Gayatri Chakrovorty Spivak
Director: Göran Hugo Olsson
Producers: Annika Rogell, Tobias Janson, Danny Glover, Joslyn Barnes
Premiere: Canadian
Runtime: 84 minutes
Website: http://www.story.se/films/concerning-violence
