Films are made all over the world. They "speak" a universal language but are also culturally determined. In Colony of Images, Gerlinda Heywegen shows just how free film actually is and how it particularly wants to give us, the public, that impression. The film excerpts, both good and bad, such as colonization films shot in the Congo and contemporary arthouse fare (i.e. Claire Denis' Beau travail and White Material, both shot in Africa), colour this lecture, which perhaps asks more questions than it answers. Because the world, and certainly the world of film, is a colony of images. How important is it to decolonize film, to remove (offensive) stereotypes? When does a film exclude or oppress, and when is it inclusive? And is the latter even possible?

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