Around 1935, the parish priest André Cornil developed a strong interest
in film. He filmed the day trips taken by his pupils at the Collège
Saint-Pierre in the Brussels suburb of Uccle and just before the war
established a non-profit-making distribution and production company
called A7A or Apostolat par le Septième Art. In 1941, Cardinal van Roey
seconded him to the production of educational films. After the war, the
Colonial Minister asked him to direct similar films in the Belgian
Congo for African audiences as part of the Centre d'Information et de
Documentation CID. To prepare for his task to gather the necessary
funding, Cornil contacted the major colonial companies and various
religious orders, such as the White Fathers and the Order of the
Immaculate Heart, who already produced films for the African
population. In 1950 armed with equipment acquired in the USA, Cornil
arrived in Matadi. Between 1950 and 1960 this Belgian priest, working
for the Belgian Colonial Ministry, made around 100 films, primarly
intended for the African audiences in the Belgian Congo. His last film
Wadimbisa was never shown, due to the fact that the film was not
completed until after June 1960, when the Congo gained its
independence. It was to be André cornil's last work of fiction; the
priest went on to cover the festivities held in honour of independence
before abandoning his film camera and returning to belgium, where he
died in 1993.
