To Where the World Began

In this awarded film the cameraman and producer Roman Teufel accompanied the artist and painter Richard W. Allgaier on his inspiring travels through West Africa, back to the roots of human civilisation – into the heart of the Sahara desert. Two related but very different media meet and complement one another – painting and cinematic art. His adventitious way on the traces of the discoverers leads him along the river Niger through the West-African Mali to the enigmatic people of the Dogon, and further to the legendary dessert town of Timbuktu, the ‘edge of the world’. From there he accompanies a caravan of the Tuareg to cross the Hoggar Mountains until the endlessness of the Sahara desert. With a scant commentary in the form of a diary monologue, the film conveys the breath of Africa, lets the pictures and atmosphere speak for themselves. The fascinating music of West Africa lends the film a special, distinctive rhythm.