The Redeemed

We follow a young couple from the Danish countryside, who a hundred years ago left for what is today the northern Nigeria. Niels and Margareth Brønnum are the first missionaries in the area and their mission is to ”build a bulwark” against Islam. They are well aware they will not come far by simply preaching the Bible, so they have studied tropical medicine. And their medical practice is solely offered as a package together with their religion.

Through interviews with Danish missionaries and African witnesses, who experienced the introduction of Christianity, we gain insight to the part of the mission that was just as much about introducing a traditional European farmer lifestyle in Africa, with the individual at the centre rather than the community.

On the basis of a massive film archive, shot by the missionaries themselves, the film displays the price the redeemed had to pay for the Christian lifestyle. 'The Redeemed' is a complex story about good intentions, adventurousness and arrogance, then as today.