Directed by Diana Andringa, screenplay by the director and Miguel Cardina, and produced by Garden Films and the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra, this film is part of the project Crossed Memories, Politics of Silence: The Colonial-Liberation Wars in Postcolonial Times. Guiné-Bissau: Da Memória ao Futuro is a witness to the hopes and blockages that have been building the country for over four decades.

Filmed entirely in Guinea-Bissau in September 2018, when the 45^th anniversary of independence was celebrated, the documentary records the testimonies of a number of scholars of several nationalities, members of Guinean civil society, artists and combatants of the national liberation struggle who reflect and debate on the memories and legacies of this past.

Guiné-Bissau: Da Memória ao Futuro takes a long reflective journey on the imagination and construction of independent Guinea, also showing us how memory can serve the present generation as a tool for the construction of the future.

RTP Africa Showtimes: Lisbon: 21h / Bissau: 20h / Praia: 19h / Luanda: 21h / S. Tomé: 20h / Maputo: 22h

About the movie

Synopsis: On September 24, 1973, a few months after the assassination of its historical leader, Amílcar Cabral, the PAIGC-African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde unilaterally declared Guinea-Bissau's independence. It was the corollary of a long struggle against colonialism and another step in the path that would lead to April 25 in Portugal. Over the course of nearly five decades the country has become politically independent and endured several turnarounds. In 2018, a group of Guinean academics, members of civil society and combatants met with scholars from Portugal and other countries in a colloquium co-organised by the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra (CES-UC), under the CROME project, by the Amílcar Cabral Centre for Social Studies (CESAC) and the National Institute for Studies and Research (INEP). Directed by Diana Andringa, this documentary takes this meeting as a pretext for a broader reflective journey into the hopes and blockages that have been building independent Guinea. And it also shows us how memory can be an unexpected tool for imagining another future.

Trailer [HERE]

Credits: Documentary / 60 minutos / Portugal – 2019; Directed by: Diana Andringa; Screenplay: Diana Andringa and Miguel Cardina; Produced by: Garden Films and CES-UC 

A project with additional funding by ICA / Ministério da Cultura.