short · drama · liberation
Sarah Maldoror's first completed film, made in Algiers in 1969, dramatizes a Portuguese prison guard's willful misreading of a single Kimbundu word spoken by an Angolan political prisoner's wife, depicting Angolan resistance to Portuguese colonialism.
Fun fact: The soundtrack's free jazz score was composed and performed by the Art Ensemble of Chicago, then based in Paris.
Notes: Shot in Algiers and concerns Angolan resistance to Portuguese colonialism; the film represented Angola at the 1971 Cannes Directors' Fortnight. Calling it Algerian solely on the basis of the shooting location would be misleading, so country is recorded as both Algeria and Angola.
Verification: verified · Sources:
[1] [2] [3]
Poster source: Sarah Maldoror estate archive