Decolonizing Minds – The Blida-Joinville Chronicles (Frantz Fanon, 1953–56)

Decolonizing Minds is a film screening and discussion series at Ventilator Cinema exploring colonial history, resistance, and identity through Indigenous and diasporic cinema. This forth edition of Decolonizing Minds — is the first feature film about Frantz Fanon , the revolutionary psychiatrist, writer, and anti-colonial thinker whose ideas reshaped our understanding of race, psychology, and liberation. The film sheds light on the lasting consequences of colonization in North Africa, particularly in Algeria , where colonial oppression and violence have left deep marks on both society and the individual psyche. The Film True Chronicles of the Blida Joinville Psychiatric Hospital in the Last Century, when Dr Frantz Fanon Was Head of the Fifth Ward between 1953 and 1956 Synopsis 1953, Algeria under French colonial rule. Dr. Frantz Fanon, a young Black psychiatrist newly appointed to the Blida-Joinville Hospital, begins to apply his radical ideas of institutional psychotherapy in defiance of the racist doctrines of colonial psychiatry. As the Algerian War of Independence erupts, Fanon’s psychiatric ward becomes a battleground for the minds of both colonized and colonizer. The film reveals how colonization infiltrated every aspect of life — from the clinic to the collective consciousness — and how Fanon’s revolutionary ideas emerged in response. Shot in the hospital that now bears Fanon’s name, director Abdenour Zahzah blurs the boundaries between fiction and documentary, combining professional actors with real doctors, nurses, and even Fanon’s son, Olivier Fanon. The result is, in Zahzah’s words, “a representation of a living memory” — restoring Fanon’s presence in a place where medicine, politics, and liberation once converged. About the Director Abdenour Zahzah is an Algerian screenwriter and filmmaker, and former director of the Blida Cinémathèque (1998–2003). His previous works include Frantz Fanon, mémoire d’asile (2002) and the award-winning short Garagouz . With Decolonizing Minds (2024) , Zahzah makes his feature fiction debut — a bold cinematic portrait of Fanon’s transformative years in Algeria. Post-Screening Talk Khadija al Mourabit — Dutch philosopher, writer, and poet of Amazigh-Moroccan descent — will host a post-screening discussion. Her work explores identity, migration, and the psychological legacy of colonialism. She will reflect on Fanon’s ideas and the enduring impact of colonization in North Africa today. with Amina Zidane an Algerian American biochemistrs Amina Zidane - Born in Algiers Emigrated to Boston MASS, Graduate of Boston University and Brown I am a Biomedical Engineer and a Neuroscientist persuing a Phd. Program 19:00 Doors open 19:30 - 21:00 Film screening 21:00 - 21:30 Talk & discussion with Amina Zidane & Khadija al Mourabit 21:30 Drinks at the bar More info about the film: CLICK HERE