- In The Colonial Misunderstanding Jean-Marie Teno sheds light on the complex and problematic relationship between colonization and European missionaries on the African continent. The film looks at Christian evangelism as the forerunner of European colonialism in Africa, indeed, as the ideological model for the relationship between North and South even today. In particular it looks at the role of missionaries in Namibia on the centenary of the 1904 German genocide of the Herrero people there. It reveals how colonialism destroyed African beliefs and social systems and replaced them with European ones as if they were the only acceptable routes to modernity. As Prof. F. Kangué Ewané says in the film: "I can forgive Westerners for taking away my land ...but not for taking away my mind and soul." Through an examination of the work of German missionary societies in Africa whose vocation was to bring Christianity - and by extension, European culture and European rule - to the heathens, Jean Marie Teno reveals The Colonial Misunderstanding.—from JMTeno.us
- Teno's film looks into the complexities arising from European colonialism in Africa, focusing on Namibia and Cameroon in particular. He illustrates the role of missionaries in colonizing, interviewing modern historians and professors to dig to the bottom of this deeply rooted issue in African history that has shaped the way of life in many formerly colonized nations.
The film shows the complete disregard of local traditions and beliefs by the European colonizers, along with the supplication of their own ideals and values. Teno asserts that Europe needs to change the modern approach, and one of the first steps to this is the acknowledgment of their wrongdoing in the first place.
The film is informative and helpful in getting an idea of what is wrong in many countries in Africa and what the right direction would be to start to change it. While Teno himself acknowledges that change may not ever happen, hopefully his film will be a starting point to educating more people on the subject.
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