Echoes from a Sombre Empire

Echos aus einem düsteren Reich

Herzog’s chastening consideration of humanity’s capacity for brutality, documenting the savage reign of an African tyrant.

  • Director

    Werner Herzog

  • West Germany 1990. 91min

  • Digital

  • Some English subtitles

A chastening look at humanity’s dark side, in the form of Jean-Bédel Bokassa, self-appointed emperor of the Central African Republic, whose volatility and brutality are investigated by Michael Goldsmith, an English journalist Bokassa imprisoned and sentenced to death for espionage. Archive footage of the tyrant – including his protestations of innocence in court – alternates with Goldsmith’s encounters with Bokassa’s family, staff and victims.