Togoland Projections

by Jürgen Ellinghaus
  • 2022 Maxim Film | AndanaFilms
  • 2022 Maxim Film | AndanaFilms
  • 2022 Maxim Film | AndanaFilms

    Synopsis

    Shortly before the First World War, the German 'Africa explorer' and film director Hans Schomburgk embarked 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. To this day, his films remain virtually unknown in Africa.
    Guided by the report of the actress Meg Gehrts, we travel more than a century later with a mobile cinema to original locations of Schomburgk's film adventures. Together with Togolese viewers, we question the film images regarding their historical background and the effects of colonialism. What do they reveal, what do they conceal about Togoland, which at the time was praised as the 'model colony' of the German Empire? And how will we have to deal with colonial film footage in the future?

    Original languages: Ife, French, Tem, Mina, Bassar, Kabiyé, Anufo, Dagbani, sign language (ASL), Konkomba.
    Available with German, English, French narration and Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Arabic subtitles.

    Festivals

    2023
    66th International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film / Germany
    65th Nordic Film Days Lübeck / Germany

    2024
    13th Luxor African Film Festival, Al-Uqsur / Egypt:
    Special Mention Diaspora Competition
    17th MiradasDoc International Documentary Film Festival, Guía de Isora / Spain
    47th Grenzland Filmtage International Film Festival, Selb / Germany
    9th International Filmfest Bremen / Germany
    37th Bolzano Film Festival Bozen / Italy
    4th Festival International de Films Identitaires et Solidaires, Nikki / Benin
    6th FestIC Festival des Identités Culturelles, Ouagadougou / Burkina Faso
    3rd FIFDOPO International Documentary Film Festival, Porto-Novo / Benin:
    Special Jury Prize
    8th FIFTO International Film Festival, Lomé / Togo
    16th FICAA International African Film Festival in Argentina, Córdoba & Buenos Aires
    11th ARKIPEL Jakarta Documentary & Experimental Film Festival / Indonesia
    4th CINEMANCIA Metropolitano Film Festival, Medellín / Colombia
    2nd FICPBA Buenos Aires Province International Film Festival, La Plata / Argentina:
    Association of Independent Documentary Film Directors and Producers of Argentina Award for the Best Documentary
    29th Portobello Film Festival, London / UK: Nomination Best Documentary
    2nd FESCIMONKA Kabyè Mountains Film Festival, Kara / Togo
    16th NNW International Film Festival, Gdynia / Poland
    3rd Lane Doc Fest, Jackson, Tennessee / USA: Finalist
    27th Festival Les Rendez-vous de l'histoire, Blois / France: Grand Prix du projet documentaire historique 2015
    20th FICPA International Film Festival, Pasto / Colombia
    9th International Film Festival in Nicaragua, Granada
    10th ETNOFF International Ethnographic Film Festival, Skopje / North Macedonia
    24th Festival Lumières d'Afrique, Besançon / France
    23rd Čadca International Biennial Festival of Ethnological Film, Bratislava / Slovakia
    13th African Film Festival Augen Blicke Afrika, Hamburg / Germany
    2nd Sorbonne Nouvelle University Festival Focus Germany, Paris / France
    39th BICB Black International Cinema Berlin / Germany: Special Acknowledgment
    12th Jagran Film Festival, New Delhi / India
    6th FICA Festival Internacional de Cine Austral, Ciudad de Córdoba / Argentina:
    Awards for Outstanding Feature Film, Outstanding Production Design
    20th International Human Rights Film Festival, Sucre / Bolivia

    2025
    23rd Dhaka International Film Festival / Bangladesh
    9th SANFICI Santander International Independent Film Festival / Colombia
    20th MICE International Ethnographic Film Fest, Santiago de Compostela / Spain
    3rd DOC.Coimbra International Documentary Film Festival, Coimbra / Portugal:
    Feature Traces Award - Best Use of Archive
    15th I-Represent International Documentary Film Festival, Lagos / Nigeria
    4th DOCLUANDA International Documentary Film Festival, Luanda / Angola
    20th ILFF International Labor Film Festival, Istanbul, Antalya / Turkey
    19th AIFF Addis International Film Festival, Addis Ababa / Ethiopia
    19th RAI FILM Royal Anthropological Institute Film Festival, Bristol / UK
    2nd FESTOA Togolese Festival in Germany, Berlin
    11th Santos Film Festival, Santos-SP / Brazil:
    Award for Best Direction, Humanities Competition Feature Length
    11th CIFA Concepción Independent Film Awards, Concepción / Chile
    15th KUGOMA Fórum Cinema Moçambique, Maputo / Mozambique
    9th FICCA Afro Kunta Kinte International Community Film Festival, Medellín / Colombia: Best International Feature Film
    8th FestiCiné Festival International du Film de l’Afrique Centrale, Yaoundé / Cameroon
    1st TAHRIFF Taraba Human Rights International Film Festival, Jalingo / Nigeria
    3rd MA Beach Film Festival, Tutóia-MA / Brazil: Awards for Best Film, Best Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Art Direction - International Feature Length Category
    2025 WAU World Anthropological Union Congress Film Exhibition, Antigua Guatemala / Guatemala
    3rd AntSaryDoc, Antananarivo Documentary Film Festival / Madagascar
    11th Festival Cinemistica, Granada / Spain: Special Mention Category Anthropology
    3rd FIHA International History Festival, Aného / Togo
    3rd FIFAC Allons au Cinéma International Film Festival, Bissau, Guinea-Bissau

    2026
    8th FIFIDHO International Human Rights Film Festival, Niamey / Niger
    5th Bayelsa International Film Festival, Yenaga / Nigeria