A revolutionary bombshell by one of Africa’s first female directors, Sarah Maldoror’s electrifying chronicle of Angola’s awakening independence movement is a stirring hymn to those who risked everything in the fight for freedom. Based on a true story, Sambizanga follows young resistance leader Domingos Xavier (Domingos Oliveira) whose arrest by the Portuguese authorities helps ignite an anti-colonialist uprising and leads his determined wife Maria (Elisa Andrade) on an epic journey by foot to save him. Underscored by the language of revolution and the spiritual songs of the Angolan villagers, this landmark work of political cinema stands apart for the way that it honors both the courage of and hardships endured by women in the global struggle for liberation.

Courtesy of Janus Films