ENCOUNTERS 2025: THE TREE OF AUTHENTICITY

Every year since our founding in 2010, The Bioscope has proudly hosted screenings of The Encounters South African International Documentary Festival. Now celebrating its 27th year as a festival, Encounters returns to The Bioscope once again with screenings at The Bioscope from 20 - 29 June. Tickets are R90. 

SEE THE FULL BIOSCOPE PROGRAM HERE

THE TREE OF AUTHENTICITY

Dir. Sammy Baloji | Belguim | DRC | 87 min | 2025 

In Sammy Baloji’s poetic and meditative film, a forest giant bears witness to centuries of colonial violence and environmental destruction in the Congo Basin. The basin is one of the world’s most important carbon sinks, second only to the Amazon rainforest in size, and removes billions of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year. Structured around records found amid the remains of a research centre in the heart of the jungle, the film reflects the lingering burden of the colonial past and its inextricable links to contemporary climate change. This thought-provoking essay film presents a disruption to the colonial archives that dominate historical narratives, via the diaries of Paul Farina, a Congolese native and Belgium’s first Black colonial officer, and Abiron Beirnaert, a white Belgian colonial interloper. Both men were agronomists who died under mysterious circumstances. The Tree of Authenticity uses their archetypal oppositionality to render the broader narrative of colonialism. It is the tree of the title, however, that has the last word. 

In 2025, The Bioscope celebrates 15 Years Of Cinema. We couldn’t have achieved this without our dedicated staff who look after you every time you visit. We’re lucky enough to have had all of them with us for as long as we can remember, and believe that this loyalty deserves constant support!

For the months of May, June and July, we are running a special BIOSCOPE BIRTHDAY STAFF FUNDRAISER, where in the checkout of your ticket purchase, you can give a donation that will go straight to them - Owen, Silin, Bongi, Portia, Polite, and Swenkie!