German Colonial Cinematography in Africa

Wolfgang Fuhrmann is a specialist in German colonial cinematography, on which he has completed a number of articles and is currently preparing his PhD at the University of Utrecht.

Cinema emerged in the late colonial imperialist period and film programs in Early Cinema were in large part compiled from films taken in colonial territories. While the historical context is generally accepted it has not been historically investigated.
This lecture is based on research on colonial filmmaking in Germany between roughly 1904 and 1918. Using illustrations, slides and film clips, Fuhrmann wants to give an overview of the different film activities in this period and show how the new medium changed the reception of Africa in Imperial Germany. Known as a colonial latecomer, Germany was one of the first countries in which film was introduced as a new medium for colonial propaganda. However, it was not just colonial authorities that were interested in 'colonial films'. The colonies were research fields for ethnologists, attractions for the colonial tourist as well as an 'Eldorado' for society drop-outs. It is within this dynamic field of different interest that the production and the reception of colonial films took place.