In the footsteps of Samuel Maherero
The Scientific Society is showing a documentary next week on the life of Samuel Maherero after the Herero uprising in 1904. Titled Waterberg to Waterberg, this 61 minute film by Andrew Botelle is based on interviews, original photographs and archive films. After the 1904 battle at the Waterberg, Maherero became a fugitive.
One minute he was the most influential leader in Deutsch Südwestafrika, the next he was running for his life with a bounty on his head. Following in this remarkable man’s footsteps, Waterberg to Waterberg tells the history of the Herero migrations across southern Africa more than 100 years ago. They ventured on a journey of a thousand miles, on horseback and by foot, from the Waterberg mountain in Namibia to the Waterberg Mountain in South Africa, a journey to find a place they could call home. Through interviews with Herero elders living in Namibia, Botswana and South Africa today, Botelle pieced together this true story. Through colonial reports, archive films and original photos, he brings to life the old world of Samuel Maharero and his nation in exile between 1904 and 1923. They may have lost most of their possessions in the war, but the Herero carried their culture inside them, and refused to let it die. This film is their story and the story of the hero who led them. Waterberg to Waterberg was nominated for the 2014 Audience Choice Award in the category “Best Film.” The screening is next Thursday, 11 December at the Scientific Society in Robert Mugabe Avenue in Windhoek.
