Shortly before the First World War, the “African explorer” and film director Hans Schomburgk went on an unprecedented film expedition to West Africa to shoot adventure and documentary films in the exotic setting in the north of the then German colony of Togo. These remain virtually unknown in Togo to this day. Guided by the travelogue of actress Meg Gehrts, Jürgen Ellinghaus travels more than a century later with a mobile cinema to original locations of Schomburgk’s films. Together with the Togolese viewers, Ellinghaus explores the historical context of the film images and the effects of colonialism. What do the films show, what do they conceal about “Togoland”, which was praised at the time as the “model colony” of the German Empire?
(maxim film)
