Skip to main content

Herero

Sponsored Project

  • Kate Schoenbach, Director, Producer
  • Alahna Lark, Producer
  • Emanuel Rotstein, Producer
A Herero man wearing a straw hat looking beyond his front porch.

About the Project

HERERO unearths the buried history of Namibia – Germany’s first genocide and South Africa’s unspoken apartheid. In a time when Black and Indigenous voices are being silenced, this bold, character-driven documentary exposes a global fight for justice that reverberates far beyond Africa.

The film follows Namibian-American activist Veraa Katuuo as he pursues justice for his people – from uncovering the long-denied 1904-1908 genocide of the Herero and Nama to filing a landmark reparations lawsuit against Germany in the U.S. and challenging a controversial aid deal in Namibian courts. As legal systems stall, HERERO captures the quieter resistance unfolding through cultural memory, legacy, and acts of remembrance.

At the heart of the story is Veraa’s relationship with his American-born daughter, Veundja, who returns to Namibia to attend the Herero genocide commemoration for the first time in traditional dress – bridging past and future as she steps into a living history.

The film will blend vérité, archival overlays, ceremonial footage, and lyrical visuals to craft a cinematic portrait of cultural survival and intergenerational justice. It asks: when systems fail and courts fall silent, how do remembrance and ritual become pathways to healing?

Project Team

    Headshot of Kate Schoenbach

    Kate Schoenbach

    Director/Producer Kate Schoenbach is an American-Canadian filmmaker and research consultant with a multidisciplinary background spanning journalism, photography, and social science. She has spent nearly a decade following the Herero story across Namibia, Germany, and the U.S. Kate's BBC short, The Africans who wear Victorian petticoats – a poetic look at Herero women’s dress as cultural resistance – won a Lowell Thomas journalism award in 2020. Building on that work, HERERO has received early development support from the Canada Council for the Arts and is fiscally sponsored by the International Documentary Association (IDA).

    Headshot of Alahna Lark posing next to a camera

    Alahna Lark

    Consulting Producer Alahna Lark is an Emmy-nominated producer and founder of Lark Media, a production company focused on socially conscious storytelling. She also co-founded SignifyTV, a streaming platform highlighting Black women filmmakers. Born to Liberian refugees, her work explores themes of displacement and resilience. Her credits include Sweet Auburn Blues and Made in America, and Herero will be her third feature documentary.

    Headshot of Emanuel Rotstein

    Emanuel Rotstein

    Consulting Producer Emanuel Rotstein is an award-winning German documentary producer and former Head of Documentaries at Icon Docs (Bavaria Fiction). Previously Senior Director of Programming at A+E Networks Germany, he is known for acclaimed films including The Invisible Line: America’s Nazi Experiment. His work focuses on historical memory, cultural heritage, and human rights.