Lace Relations

88' 2025

dir.: Anette Baldauf, Chioma Onyenwe, Joana Adesuwa Reiterer, Katharina Weingartner

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The story of an Austrian town that built its prosperity over decades by exporting luxury fabrics to Nigeria. Everything here defies expectation: the dazzling world of Nigerian fashion, rich in color and grandeur, and the stories of Austrian businessmen who smuggled suitcases full of cash out of Lagos. Tracing the thread of this unlikely connection, the filmmakers embark on a journey to the heart of darkness.

Spanning three continents, this story weaves together distant times and worlds. It begins in an Austrian town that built its wealth over decades by exporting luxury fabrics to Nigeria. The trade becomes a starting point for a deeper meditation on the colonial and postcolonial roots of modern Europe. Everything here is out of this world: the dazzling opulence of Nigerian fashion contrasts with the recollections of Austrian businessmen who once smuggled suitcases full of cash out of Lagos. Tracing the thread of this unlikely connection, the filmmakers embark on a journey to the heart of darkness. “Lace Relations” reminds viewers of stories we’d rather forget while revealing how something as seemingly ordinary as fabric can carry the weight of memory and the imprint of generations.

Konrad Wirkowski

Festivals

2025 BIFED