Frantz Fanon

In a colonial asylum, a young psychiatrist defies the established order, treating patients as equals rather than objects. As healing becomes an act of resistance, Frantz Fanon’s quiet revolution begins to unsettle an empire built on control.

Set between 1953 and 1956, this black-and-white historical feature follows philosopher and psychiatrist Frantz Fanon – author of Black Skin, White Masks (1952) and The Wretched of the Earth (1961) – during his tenure as Head of the Fifth Ward at Blida-Joinville Psychiatric Hospital in colonial Algeria. Immersed in the emerging Algerian liberation movement, Fanon rejects colonial psychiatric doctrine, introducing a radical practice grounded in dignity, humanity, and emancipation. The film traces the intimate links between mental illness and colonial oppression, psychological trauma and imperial violence, revealing how Fanon’s ideas were not only theorized but lived – pulsing through every act of care.

– Saulė Savanevičiūtė

This screening is presented in collaboration with Black Soil Film Festival

TALK

Eva Webster presents an introduction on Frantz Fanon, exploring his early intellectual development in Martinique and the experiences that shaped his thinking. She discusses his move to Algeria and introduces his key theory on the role of community, a significant contribution to psychiatry. She also highlights why Fanon’s work remains essential for understanding contemporary forms of domination and oppression. Eva Webster is a political science student at the University of Amsterdam with a French-Caribbean background and a strong engagement with Caribbean and African history, culture, and questions of inequality.

In collaboration with Black Soil
Black Soil started in 2003 as a hip-hop film festival, but has since broadened its scope to a wider perspective on Black culture. The festival celebrates the African diaspora—the foundation of a growing Black arts movement in Europe. We showcase films that emerge from Black culture, influence it, and everything in between. The focus is on how Black culture and aesthetics become visible in film, with hip-hop as a key source of inspiration. In addition to the annual festival, we organize year-round programs such as film screenings, exhibitions, talks, and concerts. www.blacksoilfilmfestival.com.