France TV honoured for documentary on colonial abuses in French Guiana Photo

A harrowing documentary exposing the long-suppressed legacy of Catholic boarding schools in French Guiana has been awarded the Student Jury Medal at the “World Revolutionaries” film festival held in the French overseas territory.

Titled “Catholic Boarding Schools of French Guiana: The Wound”, the France TV production investigates the history of the “Homes Indiens”—boarding schools that operated from 1930 until as recently as 2023, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

Around 2,000 indigenous Amerindian children were removed from their families and placed in these institutions as part of a broader effort to assimilate them into French culture.

The film reveals how children were forced to abandon their native languages and identities. French was the sole language of instruction, and speaking indigenous tongues was met with harsh punishment. Survivors recount widespread psychological trauma, with one describing the experience as a “nightmare that cannot be erased”.

According to testimony in the film, including that of a nun named Anne-Marie, the schools operated under direct orders to teach only in French. To bypass legal restrictions—since public assistance was only available to French citizens—many of the children were falsely registered as orphans, despite having living relatives.

Agnes, now 94, was taken to one such school at age 11 following her mother’s death. She says she has never recovered from the trauma of being uprooted from her village and culture. Another survivor, Kadi, lost all connection to her Kalina language and reflects: “We used to sing songs, but we didn’t know what we were singing. We prayed, but didn’t know who we were praying to.”

The documentary links the system of forced assimilation to similar colonial-era practices in Canada, Australia, and South Africa. It also sheds light on the exploitation of Amerindians as cheap labour during the construction of the Kourou spaceport.

Journalist Hélène Ferrarini’s 2022 book played a pivotal role in uncovering this buried history, with her findings forming a backbone of the documentary’s narrative.

In response, indigenous rights organisations in French Guiana are now demanding the creation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to confront what they describe as a colonial crime.

They argue such a step is essential to acknowledge the intergenerational trauma and begin a process of national healing.