SAMBIZANGA Movie Review

The groundbreaking first feature by Angolan director Sarah Maldoror is the story of a black resistance leader arrested in 1961 by Portuguese colonialists, at the height of one of the early anti-Portuguese uprisings. Unaware that her husband has been locked up in a brutal and infamous political prison, she embarks on a search that takes her from village to village; her journey illustrates both poignantly and powerfully the effect that the oppressive regime has had on Angolan society, and how the impact of colonialism seeps into the very fabric of a culture, draining it of strength, identity, and purpose. One of the most important and influential African films of the 1970s, Sambizanga was co-scripted by Maldoror's husband, who himself was an important force in the Angolan resistance.

NEXT STOP … Xala, Camp de Thiaroye, Burn!

1972 ?m/C D: Sarah Maldoror. NYR