A national production still in the making
One film seems to stand out from the rest. It's called, quite simply, Namibia (2007) and is directed by American Charles Burnett. This epic tale recounts the events leading up to Sam Nujoma's seizure of power at the time of the country's independence from South Africa. The film, co-produced by the Namibian government, is consensual to say the least. The revolutionary of the time was soon transformed into a man of power who, as is often the case, finds it hard to leave his post.
The Namibian filmmakers who seem to stand out, mostly white, are often committed, like Richard Pakleppa. His film Taste of Rain (2012) recounts the misadventures of a farming couple in the face of drought. He recently co-directed Dying for Gold (2018), a documentary chronicling the deplorable working conditions and untimely deaths of miners across southern Africa. Tim Huebschle is another Namibian director who has made a name for himself over the past decade. He frequently collaborates with black filmmakers and artists, as in 2011 with screenwriter and author Nailoke Mhanda, on an idea by the latter, for the screenplay of Looking for Iilonga, a short fiction film he made on the outskirts of the capital, Windhoek. He also won the Namibian Film & Movie Awards for Another Sunny Day, in the best documentary category in 2017. Since 2020, he has been co-directing the documentary webseries Walking Forward with transdisciplinary artist Ndinomholo Ndilula. In it, Ndilula takes center stage, interviewing figures from Windhoek's artistic and cultural scene.
Historical or anthropological documentaries
As in many African countries, Namibia attracts documentary filmmakers and anthropologists. Namibia, the genocide of the Second Reich looks back at the atrocities committed by Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. For the first time in history, a state planned and executed the extermination of two peoples from the south of the continent: the Nama and the Herero. It was co-directed by Fabrice Launay, Michel Pignard and Anne Poiret, who were awarded a star by SCAM in 2013. The same year saw the release of Eddy Paridaens' Première rencontre avec les Himba. The documentary filmmaker travels to the north of the country to the Kaokoland desert, where these people live and raise their livestock.
More recently, Au cœur de l'Okavango (In the Heart of the Okavango) follows the ravages that human activities have wrought on the Okavango delta, a region in the heart of Botswana that is one of the world's last wild wetlands, along a 2,500 km stretch of river through three countries. The explorers' route takes us to northern Namibia along the Okavango River, which forms the border with Angola and on which the lives of almost a million people depend.
Some international productions
It's in Namibia that Australian filmmaker George Miller sets part of the scenery for Mad Max, Fury Road. This return of the cult saga was a huge success when it was released in 2015. In a succession of epic chases, Max finds himself accompanying "Imperator" Furiosa in his fight against "Immortan" Joe.
The war film The Red Scorpion (Joseph Zito), an American and South African co-production, was also shot in Namibia in 1988. It follows Nikolai Rachenko (Dolph Lundgren), an elite soldier sent to Namibia to support Soviet and Cuban troops.
