The "Cinema Van", a vehicle equipped with film screening equipment, was used by the British, Belgian and French governments to distribute their "educational" films in colonial Africa in the 1940s and 1950s. The van also transported the qualified personnel, including the film commentator, who facilitated mediation with the audiences. In describing these practices as he constructs his analysis, Vincent Bouchard takes a perceptive look at the workings of this apparatus used for propaganda.

Bouchard examines the influence the screenings had on the colonized African populations' understanding of the cinematic medium. What were the effects on their own systems of representation? What values were propagated by these screenings? What impact did these audiovisual recordings have on the perception, retention and transmission of experience and knowledge?

Drawing on newly available archival material, this book explores the modes and practices of audience reception following their exposure to propaganda apparatus, as well as the evolution of these practices up to independence. The book examines certain forms of resistance in the face of these projections, which in some ways still continue today.

Using a comparative approach, Cinema Van identifies the main cultural traits prevalent in the European administrations at the time, such as racial stereotyping and differing understandings of the cinematic medium. By compiling the information contained in activity reports, the author sketches out the discrepancy between the conception of propaganda tools and their use. Finally, he questions the modes of representation that they stage.