Sambizanga, Sarah Maldoror, Angola,1973, 102'

In this second session of ARMING THE CAMERA, we have decided to bring into the light another form of committed cinema, one conceived and made in the North African territory. Sambizanga is a 1972 film by the filmmaker Sarah Maldoror, set in Angola in 1961, the year in which the war for independence began. Sambizanga shows the relationship between fiction and the reality of the liberation movement in African countries where the characters, the narrative and the actions develop around a cause that has led to violent conflict.

It is the first feature film by Sarah Maldoror, a French-African director and filmmaker, considered a pioneer of African cinema. Maldoror works on blackness, inequalities and the importance of self-determination in her filmmaking. 

Sambizanga is one of the districts in the urban area of the city of Luanda, Angola. It is subdivided into the neighbourhoods of Malanga, Sambizanga and Bairro Operário. At one point one of the characters says: "There are no whites, no mulattos, no blacks. Only the rich and the poor. The rich are the enemies of the poor, they make sure that the poor stay poor". The conversation takes place between two militants of the MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola) while on the dry land and in the feverish heat, Maria wanders from village to village in search of her husband, Domingos Xavier, one of the revolutionary leaders. 

Sambizanga is a resistance documentary-film that highlights the atrocities produced by the Portuguese colonies in Africa and the history of their struggle for independence.

Year: 1972

Duration: 102 min.

Country: Angola

Director: Sarah Maldoror

Screenplay: Claude Agostini, Mário de Andrade, Sarah Maldoror, Maurice Pons.  

Novel: Luandino Vieira

Photography: Claude Agostini

Cast: Domingos de Oliveira, Elisa Andrade, Jean M'Vondo, Dino Abelino, Benoît Moutsila, Talagongo, Henriette Meya, Manuel Videira, Ana Wilson

Produced by: Isabelle Films