In the former headquarters of Télé Congo in Brazzaville, an important part of Congo's history is slowly being reborn.
Preserved on old cassettes and reels, a whole audiovisual history of Central Africa still lies dormant within this building. The oldest archives date back to the 1920s, the era of French colonization, explains the caretaker, Hassim Tall Boukambou. A filmmaker and history enthusiast, he shares this heritage with visitors: " Here, you can see the media that were used to record, film, and preserve this audiovisual history. Our goal is to make it a research and resource center for researchers, historians, journalists, and teachers. We also hope to create a true audiovisual museum."
Founded in 1962, in the wake of independence, Télé Congo was the first French-speaking African television channel to broadcast south of the Sahara. It quickly became a cultural touchstone in the region, broadcasting its programs as far away as Cameroon, the Central African Republic, and Gabon. Soundtrack 2 – Hassim Tall Boukambou: Here, you are in what I call the Congo's vault. All of the country's audiovisual memory has been preserved here since the 1940s. And, as a side note, the oldest footage filmed in Congo dates back to the years 1920-1926, notably that used for the film Congo-Ocean, he adds.
But in 2009, when the national television station moved to a new building, these archives were left in the old one. Since then, they have slowly deteriorated, often in darkness without electricity. With a team of volunteers, Hassim Tall Boukambou is now trying to save this fragile heritage.
The aim is to promote national identity, culture, archives, and memory. In Africa, the population is predominantly young. These young people need to reconnect with their history to meet today's challenges. This requires reclaiming their country's history.
Once the restoration is complete, the volunteers hope to digitize all of these archives with the help of the French Audiovisual Institute, which has already made it possible to restore some of these images.
