Sambizanga, 1972
After Luandino Vieira’s The real life of Domingos Xavier
Angola 1961. Domingos Xavier is taken away by colonial authorities, imprisoned and tortured. His wife Maria goes in search of him. This film denounces the colonial oppression and allowed for the emergence of resistance speech at the origins of the MPLA movement (Movement for the Liberation of Angola).
Inaccessible during long decades, Sambizanga has been restored in 2021 by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project and Cineteca di Bologna at l’Image Retrouvée in association with Éditions René Chateau and the family of Sarah Maldoror. Funding provided by Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation. This restoration is part of the African Film Heritage Project, an initiative created by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project, the Pan African Federation of Filmmakers and UNESCO.
