Maroon skipper Boogie balances ancestral duties with modern challenges in a collective narrative of a changing rainforest.
In collaboration with Cinema Delicatessen, Monikondee, a film by Tolin Alexander (guest curator of The forest of Suriname), among others, will be screened at Kijkhuis Leiden. Following the film on Thursday, November 20th, there will be a discussion with Alexander and others.
The story of skipper Boogie
For centuries, the Maroons in the Surinamese rainforest kept capitalist society at bay. As descendants of enslaved Africans who freed themselves from Dutch plantations, they survived by combining their ancestral knowledge with what they learned from Indigenous peoples. But in recent decades, devastating resource extraction practices have been penetrating ever deeper into the rainforest.
The film Monikondee (Moneyland) follows boatswain Boogie, who transports essential cargo to Indigenous and Maroon communities along the river border between Suriname and French Guiana. Although these inland inhabitants still grow their own food, they are becoming increasingly dependent on external supplies. Floods and droughts render their fields barren, while gold mining pollutes the river water.
An unexpected call from his clan leaders forces Boogie to change course toward the heart of his community. During a perilous journey upriver, he sails into a domain of gods and ancestors from which no one leaves unscathed.
TrailerMonikondee
A film by Alexander, Van Brummelen & De Haan in collaboration with the indigenous peoples Kalina and Wayana and the Maroon peoples Pamaka, Ndyuka, and Aluku. Netherlands, Suriname, 2025.