The film sheds light on a country in which, after twenty-seven years of war and three years of official peace, there is an overwhelming discrepancy between poor and rich. A sensitive and respectful approach towards a traumatised society.
Social & External
The people behind it
Deolinda Rodrigues Francisco de Almeida, whose war name was "Langidila," was one of the great Heroines who sacrificed her entire life for Angola. History is quick to highlight her deeds.
Otelinda and Lutoy, married for almost 50 years, are reminded of the moments of greatest tension they experienced, in the Angolan civil war, when confronted with the images on the news about the war in Ukraine. Narrated by Otelinda, her story, we learn her story from the 25th of April, until the day she waited alone for her husband on the verge of misfortune, in Cabinda. Her narration is accompanied by the contrasting images of their daily lives in 2023, as well as the landscapes and people of the country where they now reside. Their relationship initially appears distant, but becomes closer towards the end of the narrative, through the memories of everything they suffered together.
The history and myth of a ghost island off the SW African coast are told through a dystopian parable, in which a character undergoes brainwashing to escape the burden of memory in a world he no longer relates to.
Angola: thirty years of independence, three years of peace. Capital, Luanda, a city built for 600 thousand people where four million now live. Ten characters guide us through different ways of living and interpreting the city. People from all of the country's provinces meet at this crossroads. They are the life of the city, transforming it by inventing ways to make money and reinventing themselves.
Sissako visits a war-torn Angola after thirty years of war in search of a friend and thereby through interviews reflects on the lost utopias of a generation of Africans who experienced the liberation struggles. His camera is witness to the dislocation and despair of those he encounters living in Angola, however he also discovers the resilient spirit of Africa and optimism for its future in unexpected ways.
Blood Diamonds is a made-for-TV documentary series, originally broadcast on the History Channel, that looks into the trade of diamonds which fund rebellions and wars in many African nations. The program focuses primarily on two nations: Sierra Leone and Angola. Diamonds which are traded for this purpose are known as blood diamonds.
While the center of Angola's capital Luanda is now ranked as one of the most expensive places in the world, the majority of the city's population lives in abject poverty. But young people are rebelling and creating their own counterculture with their own music styles and acrobatic dances, using the "ghetto" as a trademark to define their style.
Scenes from the three last days of the festival in which the population of the old Kingdom of Jau participate yearly.
An anthropological film of the people of Angola.
In Luanda, one of the world's poorest and most dangerous places, three students from Angola's only music school work towards their end-of-year concert. The Music School is Angola's first and only school of its kind. It houses some 80 students, most of them desperately poor. Many face disapproval and outright rejection from their families who can't see a future in music. This film asks if, despite the ravages of 27 years of civil war, musical passion can overcome terrible hardships.
An investigative documentary on the Angolan conflict, filmed on location in Portuguese-controlled Africa by Robert M. Young and first broadcast in 1961. (Note: Originally broadcast as an episode of NBC’s White Paper series (1961), but listed separately due to its independent documentary production, hazardous field filming, major journalistic impact, and sustained scholarly treatment as a standalone documentary work.)
In 1961 the liberation struggles start in Angola against the portuguese colonial power. The African students in Portugal fear for their safety and plan to flee outside the country. With the help of Theology students, French and North-American pastors, the operation code name "Angola" fled over 100 african students abroad towards freedom, amongst them several future leaders of african countries.
RAI documentary filmed in 1996 about Angola, whose people, after more than ten years of anti-colonial struggle and twenty of civil war, still suffer due to the amount of active landmines scattered all over the country.
In Angola's mist-shrouded highlands, three KhoiSan master trackers embark on a spiritual quest to rediscover the legendary "ghost elephants" of Lisima, creatures presumed lost but remembered in ancestral trance, ritual, and memory.
Filmed immediately after the end of the civil war in Angola, Há Sempre Alguém Que Te Ama records the return of Pocas Pascoal to the country where she was born, in an attempt to reconstruct the episode that, in 1975, led to the capture of the director along with her mother and sisters. An intimate documentary about memory and self-(re)construction.
Following nearly 40 years of unrelenting war, peace and reconstruction are slowly arriving to Angola. Huambo, Angola’s second largest city, finds 55 children in the Okutiuka orphanage under the care of Sonia Ferreira. Her boyfriend, Wilker Flores, is a death metal guitarist who uses sounds and rhythms of this hardcore music as a path to healing. Or, as Sonia says, “to clear out the debris from all these years of war.” The feature documentary follows Wilker and Sonia’s attempts to stage Angola’s first-ever national rock concert, bringing together members from different strands of the Angolan hardcore scene from different provinces, as it all unfolds in fits and starts, against the bombed out and mined backdrop of the formerly stately Huambo.
In 1975, Ryszard Kapuściński, a veteran Polish journalist, embarked on a seemingly suicidal road trip into the heart of the Angola's civil war. There, he witnessed once again the dirty reality of war and discovered a sense of helplessness previously unknown to him. Angola changed him forever: it was a reporter who left Poland, but it was a writer who returned…
Documentary about how the government in Angola used Fake News against the independence movement in its own country and how the Western press simply adopted much of the misinformation...
Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.
A documentary about the life and films of director John Ford.
Brilliant, long in-the-works story of the life and art of the world's greatest comedian and the cinema's first genius, Charlie Chaplin. Produced, written and directed by renowned film critic Richard Schickel.
Al Pacino's deeply-felt rumination on Shakespeare's significance and relevance to the modern world through interviews and an in-depth analysis of "Richard III."
An inside look at one of the most anticipated movie sequels ever with James Cameron and cast.
Director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born adults after a 7 year wait. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.
A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.
Alexander McQueen's rags-to-riches story is a modern-day fairy tale, laced with the gothic. Mirroring the savage beauty, boldness and vivacity of his design, this documentary is an intimate revelation of McQueen's own world, both tortured and inspired, which celebrates a radical and mesmerizing genius of profound influence.
In the Realms of the Unreal is a documentary about the reclusive Chicago-based artist Henry Darger. Henry Darger was so reclusive that when he died his neighbors were surprised to find a 15,145-page manuscript along with hundreds of paintings depicting The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glodeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Cased by the Child Slave Rebellion.
A purely observational non-fiction film that takes viewers into the ethically murky world of end-of-life decision making in a public hospital.
SEDUCED AND ABANDONED combines acting legend Alec Baldwin with director James Toback as they lead us on a troublesome and often hilarious journey of raising financing for their next feature film. Moving from director to financier to star actor, the two players provide us with a unique look behind the curtain at the world's biggest and most glamourous film festival, shining a light on the bitter-sweet relationship filmmakers have with Cannes and the film business. Featuring insights from directors Martin Scorsese, 'Bernando Bertolucci' and Roman Polanski; actors Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain and a host of film distribution luminaries.
A documentary examining the decade of the 1970s as a turning point in American cinema. Some of today's best filmmakers interview the influential directors of that time.
Daniel Craig candidly reflects on his 15 year adventure as James Bond. Including never-before-seen archival footage from Casino Royale to the upcoming 25th film No Time To Die, Craig shares his personal memories in conversation with 007 producers, Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.
A love letter from a young mother to her daughter, the film tells the story of Waad al-Kateab’s life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all while cataclysmic conflict rises around her. Her camera captures incredible stories of loss, laughter and survival as Waad wrestles with an impossible choice– whether or not to flee the city to protect her daughter’s life, when leaving means abandoning the struggle for freedom for which she has already sacrificed so much.
Award-winning journalist Daniela Arbex examines the horrors of the Colônia psychiatric hospital, where more than 60,000 people were killed over decades.
This revealing documentary honors the legendary Sidney Poitier—iconic actor, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. Featuring interviews with Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Halle Berry, and more.
A subjective documentary that explores various theories about hidden meanings in Stanley Kubrick's classic film The Shining. Five very different points of view are illuminated through voice over, film clips, animation and dramatic reenactments.
Behind-the-scenes documentary about how Lionel Messi succeeded in lifting the World Cup – the only trophy to have eluded him in an incredible career.
Prelude to War was the first film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series, commissioned by the Pentagon and George C. Marshall. It was made to convince American troops of the necessity of combating the Axis Powers during World War II. This film examines the differences between democratic and fascist states.