Early German sound film. Documentary or documentary-style fiction film.
Africa. Medium shot of a man picking cotton. Wide shot of a village with straw-roofed huts [frame scan 1].
IT: "Mesas Tochter Afua spinnt zu Hause fleißig ihre Mitgift." (Mesa's daughter Afua busily spins a dowry at home)
Mesa, naked to the waist, spinning [frame scan 2].
IT: "Sie ist schon seit ihrem zweiten Jahre dem Häuptling "versprochen" und will bald Hochzeit machen." (Already by the age of two she was “promised” to the Chief and wants to wed soon)
Mesa spinning. A small, naked child on sandy ground (over-head view) (plus additional shots).
IT: "Ihre Schwester Ama entkernt die Baumwolle, damit Afua sie spinnen kann." (Her sister Ama pits the cotton so that Afua can spin it)
Close up, pitting: cotton is fulled against a stone using a wooden stick. Ama, bare-chested [frame scan 3]. Mesa spinning.
IT: "Jawakuma zupft die Baumwolle mit einem Bogen locker." (Jawakuma picks the cotton loose with a bow)
Jawakuma, partially shaded by her hut [frame scan 4]. Close up, picking.
IT: "Hier wachsen Melonen auf den Bäumen; Mesas Sohn Jau holt sich eine "Papaya" herunter." (Here melons grow on the trees; Mesa's son Jau brings down a “papaya”)
Jau climbs up a tree [frame scan 5].
IT: "Pfeffer!" (Pepper!)
Two women picking from a pepper tree.
IT: "Die Menschen arbeiten - der Gott raucht seine Pfeife." (The people work – God smokes his pipe)
An effigy inside a small hut [frame scan 6].
Jeanpaul Goergen, Deutsche Kinemathek, 23.02.2011
There are no comments on this film.
