A historian and political scientist by education, Daniel Cattier is of Euro-African origin. His father is Belgian and his mother is of Zulu origin from South Africa. She was born in Zambia and grew up in Zimbabwe. After a first degree in Law from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, he studied Political Science and History at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London.
He began his career as a Research Assistant at the Department of West Africa of the international secretariat of Amnesty International in London and then worked as production coordinator and researcher for Channel 4 and the BBC. He directed “les Grandes Illusions”, the second episode of the documentary series “Kongo” that combined archival footage with animation. This series, aired in June 2010 on the RTBF and on Canvas, drew more than a million Belgian viewers. In 2013, he directed “Red Star Line”, a documentary series of 3 x 52 and 1 x 90 minutes on the history of European migration to America. That series was aired on Canvas in 2013 and on the RTBF in 2014. Daniel Cattier was also co-director of a documentary series of 4 x 52 minutes on the history of slavery, “Les Routes de l’Esclavage”, which aired in May 2018 on ARTE. “Totems and Taboos” about the renovation of the Royal Museum of Central Africa is his most recent documentary.