Ebony (2017)
★★★ — Ebony (2017)
A short documentary from Mauritian director Kim Yip Tong, Ebony sits within a modest tradition of postcolonial essay filmmaking that uses landscape and natural history as a lens for examining colonial violence. The film traces Mauritius's ecological transformation across successive waves of Dutch, French and British colonial rule, drawing on the writings of early settlers and poets to frame a broader argument about how Western economic ambitions have reshaped island environments. At just nine minutes, it is closer to a short-form art piece than a conventional documentary, and it appears to have been produced independently, outside any major studio framework. Tong's approach, blending archival language with images of surviving indigenous forest, places the film in conversation with contemporary concerns around tourism monoculture and environmental heritage.
A-Z World Movie Tour Mauritius FIRST REVIEW ON LETTERBOXD Honestly I really enjoyed this. It's basically a quick 8 minute history lesson on the Mauritius but you learn about pre-history, Dutch discovery, france and English rule and finally independence. You also learn about the plants and fauna in the islands. Narrated well and featuring really beautiful landscapes. Just too short and it means they breeze over alot of things.
Rating: ★★★ | Year: 2017 | Watched: 2025-07-16
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