A Place Called Wahala

by Jürgen Ellinghaus

    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

    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 FICA Festival Internacional de Cine Austral, Ciudad de Córdoba / Argentina:
    Awards for 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 I-Represent 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 FestiCiné 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 Bangui fait son cinéma International Film Festival, Bangui / Central African Republic
    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 FESCIMONKA 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 Kalaburagi International Film Festival, Gulbarga / India: Semi-Finalist
    2024 FICIAT International Festival of Independent Cinema and Theatrical Art, Bafoussam / Cameroon
    2024 Ahmedabad International Film Festival / India
    2024 Amader International Short Film Festival, Kolkata / India:
    Best Film - International
    2024 Mostra Lugares de Culturas - CCBB Educativo, Rio de Janeiro - RJ / Brazil
    2024 Human Rights Are Universal Arts Festival, Kampala / Uganda
    2025 International Music & Film Festival, Malabo / Equatorial Guinea