Synopsis
In 2011, an archive of film and audio material re-emerged in Bissau. On the verge of complete ruination, the footage testifies to the birth of Guinean cinema as part of the decolonizing vision of Amílcar Cabral, the liberation leader assassinated in 1973. In collaboration with the Guinean filmmakers Sana na N’Hada and Flora Gomes, and many allies, Filipa César imagines a journey where the fragile matter from the past operates as a visionary prism of shrapnel to look through. Digitized in Berlin, screened and live commented, the archive convokes debates, storytelling, and forecasts. From isolated villages in Guinea-Bissau to European capitals, the silent reels are now the place from where people search for antidotes for a world in crisis.
A word from Tënk
Co-founder of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, Amílcar Cabral (1924-1973) saw cinema as a powerful weapon for resistance. Under his leadership, many young Guinean revolutionaries would go on to study film in Cuba in the 1960s and return to their homeland to film the war for independence with Portugal and the birth of a new regime. Sadly, this precious documentation of decolonialization (some of which would later be used by Chris Marker in his film Sans Soleil), filmed from the perspective of those who were most affected by it, was poorly preserved and partially lost. When archival film and sound recordings re-emerged in Bissau in 2011, later restored by Arsenal in Berlin, the artist Filipa César decided to undertake a collaborative effort to resuscitate and distribute this collective memory. Working with Sana na N’hada and Flora Gomes, two Guinean filmmakers who were active in the movement of that era, she created a work that flows across international borders, from the streets of Guinea to European capitals, and sparks discussion and reflection, bringing those echoes of the past into the present.
Charlotte Selb
Programmer and critic
