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Goodbye Mandima

10 minutes

A young French boy leaves forever the African village that is his home

Robert-Jan Lacombe split his childhood between two worlds. He was born and raised in Mandima, a remote village in Zaire (now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo) where his family were among a very small number of white residents. When he left Zaire aged 10, he encountered a completely different world, characterised by cartoons and pop stars he knew nothing about. In Goodbye Mandima, Lacombe uses a single panoramic photo of the scene just before his departure as an anchor to explore his memories and consider the distinctly different futures that awaited him in Europe, and his childhood friends in Zaire.

Director: Robert-Jan Lacombe

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Support Aeon

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Aeon is a registered charity committed to the spread of knowledge. Our mission is to create a sanctuary online for serious thinking.
But we can’t do it without you.

Aeon is a registered charity committed to the spread of knowledge and a cosmopolitan worldview.
But we can’t do it without you.

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