Dialogue / Media Reports

Documentary probes Nam’s colonial history … highlights intertwined religion, colonialism – New Era 21-08-2026

“Documentary probes Nam’s colonial history … highlights intertwined religion, colonialism

2026-08-21 BY CORRESPONDENT

Monika Amunyela

A documentary exploring Namibia’s colonial history, the involvement of missionaries and Christianity’s enduring impact on the Namibian society was recently screened at the Goethe-Institut in Windhoek.

‘Go Therefore and Learn’ is a collaborative production by Namibian and German filmmakers.

The documentary draws on historical photographs, missionary records and archival material to examine how colonial narratives were constructed and how they continue to shape Namibians’ understanding of their history.

Namibian filmmaker Laudika Hamutenya feels confronting the archives during the production was uncomfortable but necessary.

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He added that the production also changed how he saw familiar places, particularly those linked to his religious upbringing.

The filmmakers visited places personally significant to Hamutenya, including the church where he was baptised and confirmed.

Seeing these spaces through the lens of the country’s colonial and missionary history gave them an additional layer of meaning.

“What affected me most was seeing how closely religion, colonialism and cultural change were intertwined,” Hamutenya said.

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“For me, the film is not about bashing Christianity. It is about asking questions and allowing different perspectives to coexist,” he said. He also believes that young Namibians need to be encouraged to question the narratives they inherit and to learn more about the identities, beliefs and systems that existed before colonialism.

“We were a people long before colonisation. We did not only become a people afterwards,” he said.

German filmmaker Daniela Fritz said the production also confronted her with gaps in Germany’s understanding of its colonial history. She felt a responsibility to help address the lack of knowledge about Germany’s colonial past.

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“I learned how crucial it is to whom you give a voice. But also, how hard it can be to include one aspect, the missionaries, in a 90-minute film where you have to leave out a whole bunch of subtopics,” she said.

She was also struck by the unequal access to historical records, particularly German missionary diaries.

“It’s so crazy that, as a German, I’m able to read those sources while Laudika and many other Namibians can’t. My ancestors are the reason so much word of mouth was destroyed by killing the people who could have passed on so much knowledge,” she said.

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The team also aims to hold screenings across Namibia.

– mamunyela@nepc.co.na”