Films by Nassim Jaouen

Germany, Togo, France 2021, 56 min
by Jürgen Ellinghaus

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...

Germany, France 2010, 54 min
by Jürgen Ellinghaus

Every two years, the small town of Beverungen, in the middle of Germany, celebrates with particular vigour its traditional Marksmen's Festival. Festivities are focused on numerous parades with marchers in uniform and a shooting contest, where the winner is declared "King". Throughout the Germanic regions, marksmen's guilds are known since the 10th century. They protected cities and rural areas against troubles, wars and looting. In Beverungen, about a quarter of the active male population is involved in the local marksmen's association. In 2008, Beverungen has the honour of hosting the annual festival of the “Confederation of Historical German Marksmen's Brotherhoods“ with thousands of participants coming from all over the west of Germany. District Kings and Diocesan Majesties compete for the title of the year's new "Confederal King" who receives the royal insignia in front of the altar, after the prayer of blessing...