We begin our three-part series focusing on the continuity of colonial mentality with a classic ethnographical film from 1930. We do not want to accuse the directors Gulla Pfeffer and her cameraman Friedrich Dalsheim, who shot their movie in a village in Togo, of having a Eurocentric perspective, quite the opposite. MENSCHEN IM BUSCH (People in the Bush) is most likely the first German film about another culture that consistently assumes the perspective of the people being filmed. It is an odd fact, however, that the film is introduced by Duke Adolf Friedrich zu Mecklenburg, who was the governor of the German colony of Togo (1912-1914). How did that happen? Adolf Friedrich became known for his early expeditions to Africa between 1907 and 1911, which earned him an honorary membership in the Berlin Society of Anthropology. After the First World War, he became the vice president of the German Colonial Society and was a member of the board of the German Kolonialfilm GmbH, which was founded in 1917. We will discuss how his introduction with racist undertones ended up in … read more
Colonial Mentality
African Mirror
Mischa Hedinger
Switzerland 2019 | 84 min | engl. subtitled
Switzerland 2019 | 84 min | engl. subtitled
Fri, 31-May-19 01:30 PM
Sun, 02-Jun-19 02:00 PM
For decades, Swiss traveller and filmmaker René Gardi (1909-2000) explained the African continent and its inhabitants to us. In books, television programs and films, he waxed poetic about the beautiful … read more
Cracks in the Mask
Australia, Germany, Switzerland 1997 | 57 min | engl. subtitled
Sun, 02-Jun-19 10:30 AM
Over the last 100 years, the Torres Strait Islanders in far north Australia have been the subject of many anthropological expeditions. The resulting depletion of their cultural artefacts has left … read more
Menschen im Busch
Friedrich Dalsheim, Gulla Pfeffer
Germany 1930 | 64 min | engl. subtitled
Germany 1930 | 64 min | engl. subtitled
Thu, 30-May-19 10:00 AM
A portrait of daily life and work in an African village. Seemingly untouched by colonial influences, the inhabitants are entirely self-sufficient. Ethnologist Gulla Pfeffer and cameraman Friedrich Dalsheim found the … read more