Gerard De Boe(1904-1960) originally worked as a public health officer in Belgian Congo, but soon became an official filmmaker and photographer for the General Government Information Department. His films include titles such as L’hygiène des villes congolaises (Hygiene in Congolese Villages) and Un camp d’instruction militaire au Congo (A Military Training Camp in Congo).
L’élite noir de demain (Tomorrow’s Black Elite) is an independently made documentary from the mid 1950s. It expresses De Boe’s faith in the benefits of colonisation and his rather optimistic view. While obviously propagandistic (it was sold to the official Information Department), the film also testifies of De Boe’s remarkable technique, his craftmanship and his filmmaker’s eye.