A Place Called Wahala

Synopsis

Every year the War Cemetery Memorial of Wahala / Chra in Togo (West Africa) hosts the 11th November Remembrance Day Ceremony in memory of the First World War and of the African colonial soldiers who died here in August 1914. The first German surrender in WWI was signed in Togo, on the soil of the Reich's cherished “model colony”, shortly after the Battle of Chra. It marked the end of German “Togoland”. But Wahala's history and its name point to another painful past. Wahala / Chra: a place where the voice of the ancients resonates with present day pictures...

Festivals/Awards

2021 SOLE LUNA International Documentary Film Festival, Palermo / Italy (premiere)
2021 LIMA ALTERNA Festival Internacional de Cine, Lima / Peru
2021 AHRFF Africa Human Rights Film Festival, Johannesburg / South Africa
2021 Festival Internacional de Cine Africano, Buenos Aires / Argentina
2021 INTERFÉRENCES Documentary Film Festival, Lyon / France
2021 SCFF The Sabira Cole Film Festival, Pittsburgh, PA / USA:
Sabira Cole Award Feature-Length Film Category
2021 Festival Écrans Noirs, Yaoundé / Cameroon
2021 SFP Sharjah Film Platform / United Arab Emirates
2021 FICS Salerno International Film Festival / Italy
2021 Festival International de Cinéma Les Écrans de Tombouctou, Timbuktu / Mali
2021 FIFSAV Festival International du Film des Savanes, Mango, Barkoissi / Togo
2021 Atlantidoc International Documentary Film Festival, Atlántida / Uruguay
2021 FICA Festival Internacional de Cine Austral, Ciudad de Córdoba / Argentina:
Awards: Outstanding Documentary Screenplay, Outstanding Vocal Performance, Outstanding Documentary Feature Film
2021 FICNC Festival International du Cinéma Numérique de Cotonou / Benin
2021 Vittoria Peace Film Fest / Italy:
Special Jury Prize Documentary
2021 VIFF Varese International Film Festival / Italy
2022 Africa Alive Festival, Frankfurt (M.) / Germany
2022 SANFICI Santander International Independent Film Festival / Colombia
2022 LAFF Luxor African Film Festival, Al-Uqsur / Egypt
2022 iRepresent International Documentary Film Festival, Lagos / Nigeria
2022 FIFAC Allons au Cinéma, Ouidah, Ganvié, Parakou / Benin
2022 Dokumentarfilmwoche Hamburg Documentary Film Week / Germany
2022 CAMIFF Cameroon International Film Festival, Buea / Cameroon
2022 Festival International du Film de l’Afrique Centrale, Yaoundé / Cameroon
2022 FESCILOM Film Festival Lomé / Togo
2022 FESDOB International Documentary Film Festival, Blitta / Togo:
Award for the Best Documentary Feature
2022 FESTICAB International Festival of Cinema and Audiovisual of Burundi
2022 San Giò Verona Video Festival / Italy
2022 RTF Realtime International Film Festival, Lagos / Nigeria
2022 Mediterraneo Video International Documentary Film Festival, Ascea / Italy
2022 ETNOFF International Ethnographic Film Festival, Skopje / North Macedonia
2022 ReCiCo Rencontres Cinématographiques de Cotonou / Benin
2022 ETNOFILM International Biennial Festival of Ethnological Film, Čadca / Slovakia:
Silver Turoň
2022 MIAX Festival Internacional de Arte y Cine Independiente, Guadalajara / Mexico
2022 Watch-Africa Cymru - Wales African Film Festival, Cardiff / UK
2022 Festival Film Dokumenter, Yogyakarta / Indonesia
2022 Bir Duino International Human Rights Film Festival, Bishkek / Kyrgyzstan:
Award for the Best Film on Civil and Political Rights
2022 BIFF Bayelsa International Film Festival, Yenagoa / Nigeria
2022 RIF.DOC International Documentary Film Festival, Relizane / Algeria
2022 Festival Vision Documentaire, Kinshasa / DR Congo
2022 International Biennial Festival Lagunimages, Cotonou / Benin
2022 Festival Mundial de Cine de Veracruz / Mexico
2023 DOCLUANDA International Documentary Film Festival, Luanda / Angola
2023 Festival RECIT Kpalimé / Togo
2023 FIFDOPO International Documentary Film Festival, Porto-Novo / Benin
2023 CIFA Concepción Independent Film Awards, Concepción / Chile:
Award for the Best Documentary Feature
2023 HISTORY International Film Festival / Austria
2023 Kabyè Mountains Film Festival, Kara / Togo
2023 FNCA Nicaraguan Film and Audiovisual Festival, Managua / Nicaragua
2023 Maranhão Beach Film Festival, Cururupu - MA / Brazil:
Awards for the Best Cinematography and the Best Sound Design
2023 FICKIN Kinshasa International Film Festival / DR Congo
2023 Pará International Ethnographic Film Festival, Belém - PA / Brazil
2023 Festival GlobaLE, Leipzig / Germany
2023 MARATONA di Cortometraggi - Festa Internazionale di Roma / Italy
2023 International Arab-African Documentary Film Festival, Zagora / Morocco:
Jury Prize
2023 FICCA Caeté International Film Festival / Brazil:
Best Medium-Length Film
2024 FICIAT International Festival of Independent Cinema and Theatrical Art, Bafoussam / Cameroon

A Place Called Wahala

A Place Called Wahala