Directed by Jürgen Ellinghaus • Documentary • 2023 • 96 minutes

Shortly before the First World War, the film director Hans Schomburgk embarked with actress Meg Gehrtson on a film expedition to West Africa to shoot adventure films in the then German colony of Togo. Virtually unknown in Togo, the films are a fascinating and disturbing document from the height of Germany’s colonial rule in Africa.

More than a century later, Jürgen Ellinghaus sets out to examine this dark legacy, retracing Schomburgk’s journey in order to show the films in front of Togolese audiences for the first time. Discussions follow public screenings as audience members reflect on the historical context of these images.

From the same director, is the film A Place Called Walhala. It focuses on the yearly event in honor of the First World War and of the African colonial soldiers who died fighting for Germany. It marked the end of German “Togoland”, but Wahala's history and its name point to another painful past.