When Algeria gained independence from France in 1962, French president Charles de Gaulle urgently needed to find a new home for Kourou’s space base. Thanks to its ideal coastal position near the equator, he chose the little town of Kourou in the overseas territory of French Guiana. But no one gave a thought to the consequences of building a rocket launching facility on the local population living there. Combining archival CNES footage of the construction of the space base and scenes from life in the new, modern Kourou, together with an evocative soundtrack and voice-overs, Listen to the Beat of Our Images offers to shift the perspective onto the people who until now have been rendered invisible.

The screening of the film was accompanied by a conversation with filmmaker Audrey Jean-Baptiste.

This event was live at LE 18 Friday 3rd Feburary, 7pm (Morocco), captions are available for the recording.