100 years after the colonial war against the Herero in the German colony of South West Africa (today Namibia), this film sheds light upon a dark chapter of German colonial history in Africa. Director Martin Baer and protagonist Israel Kaunatjike travel to Namibia together. Israel, a Herero, was born in Okahandja, the Herero’s main settlement. He lives in Berlin and in the course of doing research for the film had discovered a well-kept family secret: he has two German grandfathers. His grandmothers had borne the children of “Schutztruppe” soldiers. Whether these pregnancies were caused by rape will remain forever a mystery. According to the logic of German citizenship law, Israel is German. For him, colonialism is not a thing of the past, but a part of his personal history. His light skin reminds him every day that he is not only African. The director, too, unexpectedly came across some family history while researching for the film: ancestors on his father’s side had come to German South West Africa as settlers, and their descendants still live in Namibia and South Africa to this day.

Director: Martin Baer
With: Israel Kaunatjike
Writer: Martin Baer
Cinematographer : Martin Baer
Editor: Minze Tummescheid
Sound: Pierre Gaulke
Commissioning editor: Kathrin Brinkmann
Assistant: Uta von Debschitz
Production manager: Andrea Ufer
Producer: Gunter Hanfgarn
Channel: ZDF/arte
Sponsors: Goethe-Institut, Nordmedia