Short film

Monangambeee

1968 · 18 min

A stark, unsettling watch that conveys colonial cruelty through sparse imagery and improvised jazz, demanding patience and leaving a heavy, uneasy residue.

Directed by: Sarah Maldoror
Genres: Drama
Starring: Elisa Andrade, Carlos Pestana, Mohamed Zinet

Overview: Filmmaker-griot coming from the theater, it was with a camera, while the war in Vietnam occupied everyone's minds, that Sarah Maldoror gave visibility to the African wars of decolonization: Angola, Guinea Bissau, French Guinea, Cape Verde... Her short film Monangambée addresses the torture by the Portuguese army of a sympathizer of the Angolan resistance. At the end of editing, Sarah Maldoror approached the members of the Art Ensemble of Chicago during a Parisian concert and offered to add sound to her film. The next day they watched the film, were convinced and recorded their first soundtrack for free as evidence of African-American solidarity. Shot in Algiers, Monangambée is a film about torture and, more broadly, about the incomprehension between the colonized and the colonizers. It is based on a novel by the Angolan writer Luandino Vieira, then imprisoned by the Portuguese colonial power.
How it feels: Slow-burning and demanding.
About: Colonialism, violence, power, isolation
Content: Strong violence. Mild gore and language. No sexual content.
Note: Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown