DVD/ Sur les traces de Paul du Chaillu

Paul Belloni Du Chaillu (1831-1903) was the first explorer of the interior of Gabon (from 1855 to 1859).

Self-taught, he was at the same time a naturalist, ethnologist, linguist, geographer... We owe him the unique description of many ethnic groups of the future Gabon well before the colonization, but he was famous for having been the first hunter of the gorilla, and the first observer of the behavior of this "terrible" ape. 

Jealous, questioned, he made a second trip (1863-1865) equipped with instruments to raise his map, and pushed his penetration towards the East even further. Until an unfortunate accident forced this intrepid traveler to turn back. It is on the traces of this second journey that a multidisciplinary Franco-Gabonese team, under the direction of the linguist Jean-Marie Hombert (CNRS, DDL Lyon), set out.

By means of current scientific knowledge, they submit to criticism the information bequeathed by Du Chaillu, to rehabilitate him. For this atypical pioneer, forced to create his own destiny, who was famous in the Americas and in Europe, has sunk into an unjustified oblivion. This film is the first ever made about Paul Belloni Du Chaillu.