The following essay takes as its starting point the observation that colonial/racist imagery, sounds, figures and metaphors can be found in many 1950s West-German films. Referring to the Freudian notion of screen memories, which can be understood as memories of a past that were never present, the essay asks how these filmic actualizations of africanist tropes established a vision of an unburdened past. By looking at three films the essay shows that actualizations of africanist – racist – imagery are key; not only for the transcription of the Nazi as well as the colonial past, but also for establishing a memory that allows for the construction of a self-image as re-covered and therefore no longer racist.
