Black Diaries

At the end of the 19th century, Roger Casement, a young and idealistic British diplomat of Irish descent, travels to the Congo to oversee the Crown's interests and uncovers the crimes of Belgian exploitation against the indigenous communities. Years later, in the Colombian Amazon, Casement witnesses similar horrors committed by British rubber companies. His growing disillusionment turns inward, forcing him to confront not only the colonial violence but also the desires he has long suppressed. As his loyalty to the Crown crumbles, he embraces the cause of the oppressed, transforming from a servant of the Empire into one of its fiercest detractors.

Director’s statement
Since I first encountered Roger Casement, I’ve been drawn to his contradictions: a colonial official turned anti-imperialist, a queer man in a moralistic society, a witness and agent of history. His story feels urgent today, as the colonial structures he exposed in Africa and South America remain alive in new forms. Latin America was built on genocide, extraction, and the erasure of Indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples, a violent history that continues to shape its politics, societies, and inequalities. Casement’s life speaks directly to these histories of dispossession and resistance. Telling his story today is a way to confront the ongoing legacies of colonialism and to question how power, representation, and human lives have been and still are controlled, silenced, and commodified.