A Journey Back Home - A documentary on Namibia's 30 years of independence
A documentary about 30 years of Namibian Independence. Christian Scholz, director and narrator of the film returns to Namibia after 30 years to visit various locations in the country of his birth. He meets many old friends and talks with them about the first free elections in this country in South Western Africa. He shares his views about then and today. The interviews focus on different topics like the liberation struggle, education, work, general living conditions, colonialism, memories, culture and more.
30 Years of Namibian Independence
After a hard won struggle, the Republic of Namibia turned independent on 21 March 1990. Between 9th to 11th November 1989 the first free and fair elections under UN supervision had taken place.
During that time a friend and I spent time in Kalkrand, a small village 200 km south of Windhoek. For two weeks we were filming the social conditions of the inhabitants and asked them about their expectations of an independent Namibia. We received close insights about how the people of Kalkrand lived. There was a high rate of unemployment causing incredible poverty. Inhabitants had no direct excess to water. One of the taps at that time was controlled by the business man Mr. Pupkewitz, the other one was controlled by the church.
The inhabitants had to fetch water in empty oil drums, often walking over long distances from and to their poor shacks. On top of that they had to pay for the water. In some cases the church supported the people. We asked people of different classes and backgrounds about the living conditions in Kalkrand. These were teachers, preachers, businessmen, bank employees, policemen and of course workers without any educational background. During these two weeks we were the guests of the acting pastor of the local Evangelical Lutheran Church. This helped us to obtain the confidence of the inhabitants. During this time about 30 hours of S-VHS footage was captured.
In November 2019 the elections for the 7th term of a new Namibian Parliament took place. During this time I was documenting this event . My intention is to show, what has changed for the people of Kalkrand during the last 30 years. Did the hopes and wishes of the inhabitants come true? What changes did 30 years, a live span of one generation, bring about?
I´m a born Namibian having lived in Hamburg, Germany for almost 40 years. In the eighties I engaged myself very much for the independence of Namibia. It is thus of utmost importance for me to have this documentary realised. The film contains a part of my own history with Namibia.
Dates in Namibia
- Saturday, 8th October, Premiere Windhoek, GELC community hall
- Monday, 10th October, Gibeon (to be announced)
- Tuesday, 11th October, Kalkrand Recreation Centre
- Wednesday, 12th October, Rehoboth
- Thursday, 13th October, Dordabis Community Hall
- Saturday, 15th October, Swakopmund, Namib Primary School Hall
- Sunday, 16th October, Swakopmund, DRC church still to be confirmed
- Friday, 21st October, Windhoek, Katutura
Christian Scholz