Sarah Maldoror

Sambizanga

Sambizanga

This revolutionary bombshell by Sarah Maldoror chronicles the awakening of Angola’s independence movement. Based on a true story, Sambizanga follows a young woman as she makes her way from the outskirts of Luanda toward the city’s center looking for her husband after his arrest by the Portuguese authorities—an incident that will ultimately help to ignite a national uprising. Featuring a cast of nonprofessionals—many of whom were themselves involved in anticolonial resistance—this landmark work of political cinema honors the essential roles of women, as well as the hardships they endure, in the global struggle for liberation.

Film Info

  • Angola
  • 1972
  • 97 minutes
  • Color
  • 1.37:1
  • Portuguese, Lingala, Kimbundu
  • Spine #1143

Available In

Collector's Set

Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project No. 4

Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project No. 4

Blu-ray/DVD Combo Box Set

9 Discs

$99.96

Sambizanga
Cast
Domingos de Oliveira
Domingos Xavier
Elisa Andrade
Maria
Jean M’Vondo
Petelo
Adelino Nelumba
Zito
Benoît Moutsila
Chico
Tala Ngongo
Miguel
Lopes Rodrigues
Mussunda
Henriette Meya
Bébiana
Manuel Videira
Police chief
Credits
Director
Sarah Maldoror
Adaptation, screenplay, and dialogue
Maurice Pons
Adaptation, screenplay, and dialogue
Mario de Andrade
Based on the novel A vida verdadeira de Domingos Xavier by
José Luandino Vieira
Cinematography
Claude Agostini
Editor
Georges Klotz
Production manager
Jean Velter
Camera
Jean-François Robin
Technical consultant
Jacques Poitrenaud

Current

Sambizanga: Everyday Revolution

Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project No. 4

Sambizanga: Everyday Revolution

Sarah Maldoror’s only completed narrative feature tracks the Angolan struggle for independence from Portugal and reckons with the interlocking systems of colonialism, capitalism, and patriarchy.

By Yasmina Price