Photographer: Van den Heuvel, Alexandre (1899-1987).
Title: untitled (Les petits garçons Bena Tubeya).
Date: 1947.
Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Medium: unmounted gelatin silver print.
Size: 20,5 x 25,5 cm (image 17,3 x 23 cm).
Condition: good.
Reference: AVDHI0923/1
Provenance: Belgian collection.
Extra: typed note with identification in French on the verso. Congopresse 31.406/2.
Born in 1899, Alexander Van den Heuvel first completed his law studies at the University of Leuven before receiving his rather late calling and joining the Fathers of Scheut (Scheutist Missionaries). In 1932 he came to Congo, and from 1934 onwards his interest in film grew: from that point he organized screenings for Black audiences in Léopoldville (in his parish of Saint Peter, where he was also vicar general until 1940). In 1946 he was put in charge of the C.C.A.C.C., a position he retained until 1976. In addition to his administrative work, he also made several important films himself, including Congo, terre de beauté and Les Palabres de Mboloko, a series of animated films that enjoyed great success among the Black population.
From: HAFFNER, P., “Interview with Father Alexander Van den Heuvel. Pioneer of a ‘missionary cinema’ in Congo,” in: L’Afrique littéraire et artistique, 48 (1978), pp. 86–95.