National screening and popular success for The Tree of Authenticity by Sammy Baloji, a major work on Congolese postcolonial memory.
When the tree falls, the forest remembers…
In the hushed world of film festivals, sometimes a film emerges with the quiet strength of an ancient tree. The Tree of Authenticity, the first feature-length documentary by Sammy Baloji, is one such work. Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 2025 International Film Festival Rotterdam, this film is more than just cinema: it is a visual detonation, a political meditation, an ecological elegy, and a poetic manifesto.
This is a moment we could not let pass without a heartfelt tribute. At NOFI, we wish to salute the boldness, power, and intelligence of this film, which marks a turning point in how African and Afro-descendant filmmakers reclaim their history — and more importantly, the legacy of what still haunts us.
A forest of ghosts and data
We are deep in the Congolese equatorial forest, in Yangambi — a former tropical agriculture research station and vestige of Belgian colonial presence. This forgotten site is, in fact, a key place in colonial history — and perhaps in our ecological future. There, between silent tree trunks and crumbling architecture, The Tree of Authenticity unfolds a narrative that is both intimate and global.
Through the interwoven voices of Paul Panda Farnana — pioneering Congolese intellectual and botanist — and Abiron Beirnaert, a 20th-century Belgian scientist, the film reassembles a fragmented, often denied past, drawing from it lessons for today. Here, the forest is not mere background: it is a character, a witness, a symbol.
A film-essay of rare formal beauty
Baloji presents a film-essay in the tradition of Chris Marker or Pasolini — whose script he is currently adapting for an upcoming fiction film. The precise editing by Luca Mattei, the soundscapes of Chris Watson, and the immersive cinematography by Franck Moka make The Tree of Authenticity a sensory experience. This is not a film to watch — it is a place to inhabit: a sacred ground, a haunted land, a sanctuary of truth.
“A gesture of great beauty, but also deeply political,” as Le Polyester rightly put it. The film rejects overt didacticism in favor of a persistent, haunting whisper: what if the colonial ecocide in Congo foreshadowed planetary collapse?
A decolonial ecology
Sammy Baloji’s political insight deserves recognition. Far from victimization or simplification, The Tree of Authenticity highlights a historical truth that few Western narratives dare to name: colonization was also an ecological disaster.
By stripping the land, exploiting resources endlessly, and converting biodiversity into data points, the colonial empire helped set the stage for today’s climate crisis. In the film, Yangambi — with its meteorological observation stations — becomes a critical node of the Anthropocene, the era in which humanity, led by industrial elites, disrupts the planetary balance.
While many documentaries merely denounce, Baloji probes, confronts, disturbs. He invites us to consider shared responsibilities: those of colonial nations, of course, but also of postcolonial societies tempted by denial or amnesia.
A work that speaks to africa and the world
Born in Lubumbashi in 1978, Sammy Baloji is no stranger to those familiar with the Pan-African art scene. A talented photographer and acclaimed visual artist (ranked 17th in ArtReview‘s Power 100), he co-directed Rumba Rules in 2020, which was presented at IDFA.
With The Tree of Authenticity, he takes a step further: he no longer just illustrates history — he rewrites, reinterprets, and revisits it. Most importantly, he renders it visible for a global audience.
Co-produced by ARTE France, Last Dreams Production, and Twenty Nine Studio, the film has been screened at top documentary festivals: DOXA, Visions du Réel, DOK.fest München, Hot Docs…
A Belgian-Congolese-French production that speaks a transcontinental language, without ever betraying its roots or artistic ambition.
Congratulations, sammy baloji!
NOFI warmly congratulates Sammy Baloji and the entire artistic team behind The Tree of Authenticity. This film marks a milestone in the history of contemporary Afro-European cinema — a work that gives voice to silences, breathes life into archives, and compels reflection.
The very title, The Tree of Authenticity, is perhaps an ironic nod to Mobutu’s policy of “return to authenticity.” But in Baloji’s work, authenticity is not decreed — it is sought, listened to, cultivated, like land, a tree, a memory.
What this achievement says about african cinema today
In 2025, African films are no longer seeking to “prove” their legitimacy: they are asserting it, with confidence, uniqueness, and ambition. The Tree of Authenticity is both a culmination and a beginning.
At a time when streaming platforms chase formulaic content and festivals often favor form over substance, this film proves that one can be radical, poetic, political, and powerful — without yielding to trends or compromise.
Sammy Baloji poses a question to the world: what do we do with our past? With our forests, our forgotten scientists, our silenced voices? And most importantly: what kind of land do we want to leave for future generations?
A Film to watch, share, and discuss
The Tree of Authenticity is a film that deserves to be seen in theaters, screened at universities, shown in cultural centers, and taught in schools. It is a tool of public education, a political poem, a living archive.
And if you believe that cinema can change the world — then don’t miss this film.
Coming up:
📍 Starting May 14, 2025 — An exhibition dedicated to Sammy Baloji at the Musée de la Musique (Paris)
NOFI is proud to support this work that fosters dialogue between Africa, Europe, and ecology — without ever simplifying the complexity of reality.
Congratulations, Sammy. And thank you for the tree. 🌳
Table of Contents
- When the tree falls, the forest remembers…
- A forest of ghosts and data
- A film-essay of rare formal beauty
- A decolonial ecology
- A work that speaks to Africa and the world
- Congratulations, Sammy Baloji!
- What this achievement says about African cinema today
- A film to watch, share, and discuss
