Germanin – The story of a colonial act

Death looms over the great continent of Africa, in Germanin, which chronicles the battle against sleeping sickness and the conquest of the tsetse fly—a heroic chapter in German colonial history. Despite British sabotage, a great cure is announced, but Germany has lost the First World War and its colonial empire and can no longer enter Africa. Will the German spirit triumph to save Africa? Directed with great panache by Max Kimmich, Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels’ brother-in-law, this rousing action-adventure classic stars the always-charismatic Luis Trenker (Berge in Flammen, Der Rebell). The picture also features black German actor Louis Brody and hundreds of unpaid black extras. Germany’s colonial empire lasted only a generation. Germanin reflects the psychological impact of its loss: strong propaganda pits German humanitarianism against British perfidy, as the film glorifies the achievements of German science in the tropics. Thrilling location cinematography, assured direction, and exceptional wild-beast stock footage—as much as in any M-G-M Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan film—make Germanin one of the most exciting pictures made in Germany during the war.