Acces Dialogue: Métisses - Five women against a state crime

Léa, Noëlle, Monique, Simone, and Marie-José were born in Congo, as daughters of a black mother and a white father. When they were between 2 and 5 years old, they were taken away from their mothers by the Belgian colonial state as part of a systematic policy of racial segregation.This documentary tells, in animation form, about their childhood memories and their trauma. The film reports, in live-action images, on the lawsuit they filed against the Belgian state for crimes against humanity.MÉTISSES - CINQ FEMMES CONTRE UN CRIME D'ÉTAT - DIRECTED BY: QUENTIN NOIRFALISSE AND JEAN-CHARLES MBOTTI MALOLO, FRANCE, BELGIUM, 2026, 1H26, SPOKEN IN FRENCH, DUTCH SUBTITLEDAccess DialogueAfter the screening, a post-screening discussion will follow led by psychologist Tania Nyanguile with researchers Pauline Malenga Mwanga and Chiara Candaele, and artist and writer Jaak Albert about identity, recognition, and the lingering effects of historical injustice.The stories of five women who became victims of the Belgian colonial segregation policy as children form the starting point. Why is recognition so important? How does trauma work through generations? And how do we deal with painful histories as a society? An open conversation with room for personal experiences and joint reflection.Tania Nyanguile is a clinical psychologist and initiator of the Vulnera platform. She works on well-being and structural inequality, from an intersectional vision and with a strong belief in the power of vulnerability and community.Pauline Malenga Mwanga is a researcher at the Vakgroep Geschiedenis of the Universiteit Antwerpen, speaker, and writer. Her work focuses on Belgian-Congolese history, cultural representation, and identity formation, with special attention to the impact of colonial legacies on young people from the Congolese diaspora.Chiara Candaele is a postdoctoral researcher at the Huygens Instituut and the Universiteit Antwerpen. She is interested in the historical intersections between care and power and conducts research into children in (post)colonial societies. Between 2020 and 2023, she was a scientific collaborator at the State Archives and the Resolution-Metissen project.Jaak Albert was born in 1952 in Rwanda to a Rwandan mother and a Belgian father. As a métis child, he was placed in the institution of Save in 1960 and transferred to Belgium in 1960, where he grew up in a foster family. As a graphic artist and author, he has spent years processing and researching his personal history and that of the colonial métis children from Rwanda-Burundi, with special attention to identity, family restoration, and recognition of the African mothers.This program was curated by Sadjo Thiam van Acces in collaboration with Spreken is Goud van De Roma. Acces Dialogue is an interactive format developed by Acces that brings diverse voices together through carefully curated events designed to stimulate meaningful conversation and generate collective insights on contemporary social and cultural topics.