The film WHO IS HIGHLIFE? was produced in 2007/2008 during two large-scale concerts organized by the Goethe Institute in Accra, “Made In Germany – Burger Highlife”.

Highlife is the rock’n’roll of Africa, and it originated in Ghana, West Africa. This West African country jives to the beat of highlife from morning to well after midnight. Considering the country’s history, from the arrival of the first colonial power through to the period of globalization, it comes as no surprise that African musicians have managed to amalgamate typical Ghanaian beats with continuously changing Western influences in highlife: from the rhythmic palm wine music and Kwame Nkrumah’s national commitment to promoting dance-band highlife to the exiled musicians living in Germany and today’s genre mix hiplife.
Burger highlife evolved in the 1980s in the recording studios of Düsseldorf and Berlin, where Ghanaian musicians collaborated with German sound engineers to create a fusion of traditional music, disco and funk.
The film tells the story of how this special style of fusion music came about, using musical excerpts and interviews.

“Ghana, Land of Freedom”, “Come to Africa”, “Money is Blood”, “Odo Beba”, “Akwankwa”, “Ocean Wind”, “Tonight”, “Highlife Agogo”, “No Beer in Heaven”, “Wo Fata Me” – these are just some of the songs with which the musicians compete for the most authentic and best highlife song. Their songs explore feelings of homesickness and worldliness, living in the moment and utopia, vitality and the sense of reality.

What is the secret of highlife? If it’s true that there are only three things that can alter human perception – religion, sex and drugs – then what is highlife? For well-known highlife expert Professor John Collins there can be little doubt: music is a medium that penetrates the human brain and profoundly influences mind and soul.

The film WHO IS HIGHLIFE? was produced in 2007/2008 during two large-scale concerts organized by the Goethe Institute in Accra, “Made In Germany – Burger Highlife”.

Featuring Nana Asamoah, John Collins, Nana Aboagye Da-Costa, George Darko, Lee Dodou, McGod, Bob Fiscian, Albert Jones, Daddy Lumba and Nana Acheampong (Lumba Brothers), Pat Thomas, Wulomei, Atongo Zimba...

Production Country

Austria (AT), Germany (DE), Ghana (GH)

Production Period

2009

Production Year

2009

color

color

Aspect Ratio

4:4

Duration

Feature-Length Film (61+ Min.)

Type

Documentary

Genre

Musical, Biography / Portrait

Topic

Music

Available Media

DVD

Original Version

German (de), English (en)

DVD

Subtitles

English (en), French (fr), Portuguese (Brazil) (pt), Arabic (ar), German (de), Indonesisch (id)