The philosopher, writer, and poet Édouard Glissant is considered a forerunner of thinking on globalization and a world of diversity and interrelations. Of particular importance has been his theory of the ‘Poetics of Relation’ in which he uses the concepts of ‘Relation’ and ‘Tout-monde’ to meditate on the new meanings of globalization, chaos, violence, equality and justice.

In the documentary film Édouard Glissant: One World in Relation filmmaker Manthia Diawara accompanies Glissant aboard the Queen Mary II on a transatlantic journey from Southampton, England to New York City as he speaks about his life and work. This poetic meditation continues during a voyage to Glissant’s native Martinique as the filmmaker and thinker explore our understanding of relation and the theory of globality as a continual process of relating.

Wednesday 5 September, 2018
Duration: 50 minutes
Language: French with English subtitles

Speaking of ‘the good life’ in the United States of America, the young boys discuss separated families as a result of migration, unemployment and education, poverty, the dream of leaving the slum, and the luxury of the accessibility of transport. With the innocence of the conversation in the children’s game, the harsh realities of the developing world speak loudly.

The artist’s decision to include the voice of the child speaks both to the importance of imagination in survival in the face of major social, economic and political disadvantage and to the generations of children faced with the hardship of poverty and life in a war zone. Imagination and dreaming is a method of endurance and future reparation of the trauma of social devastation. Cambeck, playful in its presentation and uncompromising in its delivery, is a significant insight into to the realities lived by the youth in the ongoing Angolan Civil War context.

Screening in the HMK cinema from January 19 till February 24, 2018
Made possible by Kadist