Amílcar

In 2013, during a trip to Cape Verde, I discovered the story of Amílcar Cabral. I was fascinated by the determination that drove Amílcar to devote his life to what seemed like a crazy dream: the union of two countries in the struggle for their independence. Who was this young African agricultural engineer? How did he manage to gain international support for such a small territory and challenge Portugal?

I began pursuing these questions with a small team and started interviewing friends, family members, and colleagues. I discovered that Amílcar Cabral is still a controversial figure, one who sparks opposing opinions in Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Portugal, and the USA.

Over the past five years, Amílcar has continued to call out to me. The documentary has become a romantic project—considered, reconsidered—one to which I’ve dedicated myself with complete creative freedom.
In this biopic, I reclaim Cabral—his life and his thinking—as a way to explore human vulnerability and the need to stay alert. We are living turbulent times, in which intolerance is spreading across the world. Today, Cabral’s life reminds us that the rights to social justice achieved by our civilization are not eternal; they must be reclaimed by every generation, and the greatest danger may well be forgetting.