Gold Coast

When Danish botanist Wulff Joseph Wulff set sail for Africa in 1836, he thought he was on a mission to establish a coffee plantation in what was then Danish Guinea (now Ghana). But soon after arriving, Wulff learned there were sinister forces swirling in the thick forests. Daniel Dencik’s GOLD COAST charts Wulff’s Heart of Darkness-like journey from well-intentioned innocence to disillusioned interloper as he runs afoul of brutal slave traders and corrupt government officials. The constant subtext: Wulff’s obsession with exotic plant life and the beautiful landscapes that fuel his philosophical musings about humanity, morality, and the circular patterns of nature. Jakob Oftebro sorrowfully inhabits Wulff’s psychological and physical deterioration. Dencik based his fictional tale in part on Wulff’s actual letters home and enhanced the drama’s authenticity by shooting on location in Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Denmark. (In Danish with subtitles) –C.O.