Togoland Projections

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.

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