Practical
Tuesday, 8 December, 2026
- 19:00 until 21:30
Cinema RITCS
Antoine Dansaertstraat 70
1000 Brussels
Antoine Dansaertstraat 70
1000 Brussels
€10, €5 discount rate for students, €8 for RITCS staff, RITCS alumni, job seekers, and seniors (65+). Free for Cineville ticket holders
The Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and Cinema RITCS invite you to a screening of The Shadow Scholars, followed by a conversation about inequality, invisible labour and who gets to claim ownership of knowledge.
In Kenya, highly educated graduates write essays, dissertations and academic papers for students abroad. They do the research and writing; someone else gets the credit.
In The Shadow Scholars, Oxford sociologist Patricia Kingori investigates the multibillion-dollar industry behind this hidden trade. She meets writers who use their academic skills to support their families and pursue their ambitions, even as their own opportunities remain limited. Their stories challenge familiar ideas about academic cheating and raise questions about who gets recognition for their knowledge and who benefits from education.
After the screening, join communication scientist and filmmaker Daniel Cattier for a conversation moderated by researcher Jabulani Shaba (VUB) in the RITCS Café. The discussion will explore the hidden economies of online labour, the power dynamics behind global knowledge production, and the inequalities that shape whose knowledge counts in an interconnected world.
Programme
19:00 Introduction
19:10 The Shadow Scholars (2024, dir. Eloïse King, 98 min., Languages: English, Swahili with subtitles in English)
21:00–21:30 Discussion with Daniel Cattier, moderated by Jabulani Shaba, in the RITCS Café (in English)
Speakers
Daniel Cattier is a Zambian-Belgian communication scientist, filmmaker and international project coordinator based in Brussels. He holds a BA in Politics and History from the London School of Oriental and African Studies and an MSc in Communication and Digital Media from KU Leuven. He works on European-funded projects connecting education, research and international collaboration. His interests span global history, Africa–Europe relations, AI and society, and the role of storytelling in shaping historical understanding.
Jabulani Shaba is an FWO-funded postdoctoral researcher in VUB’s Social History of Capitalism (SHOC) group, studying resource extraction, political ecology, gender and environmental justice. His archival and ethnographic research covers gold, copper and oil in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia and Nigeria. Previously a political ecology postdoctoral research associate on the University of Groningen’s ERC project AFREXTRACT, he now researches Zimbabwe’s Just Energy Transition. He also explores photography, film and visual cultures for environmental storytelling.
VUB Encounters
VUB Encounters invites people to discuss the questions challenging our society today. Taking a film, book, exhibition, research project or current event as a starting point, we bring together researchers, students, artists, writers, filmmakers and the wider public. Not to offer easy answers, but to bring different perspectives into conversation and create space for nuance, debate and new insights.
The world needs you
This initiative is part of VUB's public programme, a programme for everyone who believes that scientific knowledge, critical thinking and dialogue are an important first step to create impact in the world.
As an Urban Engaged University, VUB aims to be a driver of change in the world. With our academic edcuational programmes and innovative research, we contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations and to making a difference locally and globally.