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poster of Africa Addio
Rating: 6.3/10 by 38 users

Africa Addio (1966)

A documentary about the end of the colonial era in Africa, portraying acts of animal poaching, violence, executions, and tribal slaughter.

Directing:
  • Gualtiero Jacopetti
  • Franco Prosperi
Writing:
  • Gualtiero Jacopetti
  • Franco Prosperi
Stars:
Release Date: Fri, Feb 11, 1966

Rating: 6.3/10 by 38 users

Alternative Title:
Africa: Blood and Guts - US
Adieu Afrique - BE
Vaarwel Afrika - BE
África, Adeus! - BR
Сбогом, Африка - BG
Africa ¡Adiós! - CO
Farvel til Afrika - DK
Hyvästi, Afrikka! - FI
Afrika, adjö! - FI
Adieu Afrique - FR
Afrika adio - GR
Africaddio - IT
Vaarwel Afrika - NL
Farvel, Afrika! - NO
África, Adeus - PT
Прощай, Африка - SU
Africa addio - SE
Farewell Africa - GB
Adiós África - ES

Country:
Italy
Language:
Italiano
Runtime: 02 hour 18 minutes
Budget: $0
Revenue: $0

Plot Keyword: africa, congo, mercenary, cane, colonialism, mondo, colonization, shockumentary
Subtitle   Wallpaper   Watch Trailer    

Sergio Rossi
Narrator (voice)
Jomo Kenyatta
(archive footage)
Gualtiero Jacopetti
Himself (uncredited)
Julius Nyerere
Himself (uncredited)
Moïse Kapenda Tshombe
Himself (uncredited)
Richard Gordon Turnbull
Himself (uncredited)
Ian Yule
Himself (uncredited)

adorablepanic

AFRICA ADDIO (1966) is a difficult work to evaluate. Released at a time when most major media resources were focused on the Vietnam War, co-directors Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi were among a very, very small group of people documenting the unrest which accompanied the decolonization of Africa. More than 50 years after its release, this is still a brutally graphic film: human death is captured on camera, up-close and unsimulated; hippopotami and elephants are attacked with spears until they resemble living pin-cushions, only expiring after suffering prolonged and agonizing brutality; human remains litter rural fields and city streets like so much discarded waste. There are several scenes where the audio appears to be altered to present the on-screen activity in a manipulated context, which was a technique employed in both MONDO CANE (1962) and MONDO CANE 2 (1963). Charges that the filmmakers were actually complicit in staging some of the death scenes led to a court case in Italy, where they were eventually acquitted. But being critical of a mondo movie for employing deception is like being critical of a baker for employing yeast; it's one of the tools at the creators' disposal. Understanding that the mondo genre in general was more concerned with titilation and shock than in absolute narrative truth will go a long way in explaining why Jacopetti and Prosperi may have felt the need to alter already potent footage: they weren't aspiring documentarians, but rather talented grindhouse purveyors who found themselves in the right place at the right time.


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