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/Awards
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 FICKIN' Festival International de Cinéma de Kinshasa / DR Congo
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 Atlantidoc International Documentary Film Festival, Atlántida / Uruguay
2021 FICA Festival Internacional de Cine Austral, Ciudad de Córdoba / Argentina:
Awards 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 / Egypt
2022 iRepresent 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 Festival International du Film de l'Afrique Centrale, Yaoundé / Cameroon
2022 FESCILOM Film Festival Lomé / Togo
2022 FESDOB International Documentary Film Festival, Blitta / Togo:
Best Feature-Length Documentary Award
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
2022 MIAX Festival Internacional de Arte y Cine Independiente, Guadalajara / Mexico
2022 Watch-Africa Cymru - Wales African Film Festival, Cardiff / UK
2022 Bir Duino International Human Rights Film Festival, Bishkek / Kyrgyzstan
2022 BIFF Bayelsa International Film Festival, Yenagoa / Nigeria
2022 BFSC International African Film Festival, Bangui / Central African Republic
2022 RIF.DOC International Documentary Film Festival, Relizane / Algeria
2022 Festival Vision Documentaire, Kinshasa / DR Congo
2022 EIFF Ekurhuleni International Film Festival, Germiston / South Africa
2022 Festival Mundial de Cine de Veracruz / Mexico

Cast and Crew

Director Jürgen Ellinghaus
Producer Jürgen Ellinghaus, Kwami Etonam Jean Ahonto
Screenwriter Jürgen Ellinghaus
Director of Photography Rémi Jennequin
Assistant director Nassirou Saliou
Editor Jürgen Ellinghaus
Sound Rémi Jennequin
Sound Design Pascal Bricard
Animation Nassim Jaouen

Summary for official catalogues