Namibia - Return to a New Country

1997, German. Directed by Christoph Schuch.

Starting in 1979, nearly 2,000 children were evacuated from Namibia (and refugee camps in neighboring Angola and Zambia) to protect them from the violence of civil war between South Africa and the socialist liberation movement, SWAPO. In a gesture of allyship with SWAPO, the GDR accepted almost 500 children for their “protection, education, and socialist training.” In 1990, they were suddenly returned—after Namibia's independence and first all-race elections, which took place the same week as the Berlin Wall opened. The young people interviewed in this film reflect on the experiences of the Namibian children who spent their childhoods in East Germany, focusing especially on their sense of identity and the difficulties they faced fitting into society.

Runtime

1h 25m

Post-credits

None listed

Language

German

Rated

Check local

Start now and it ends at ….