* with presentation of the film by the director
Full screening of the 3-hour version of the film CUBA, AN AFRICAN ODYSSEY (2007) by Jihan El-Tahri.
Between 1961 and 1989, the African continent was one of the main battlegrounds of the Cold War. The new African nations had to confront not only the former European colonial powers, but also the hegemonic aspirations of the two superpowers—the Soviet Union and the United States—over the continent.
Against capitalism, socialism, or colonialism, the new African countries sought to take control of their own destinies, became a sort of third bloc, and fought in the name of a new ideal: internationalism as a weapon to ensure national independence.
Cuba played a leading role in this process, providing aid to young African revolutionaries. From Che Guevara’s epic campaign in the Congo to the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale in Angola, the film attempts to better understand contemporary Africa through the story of these internationalists who won every battle but ultimately lost the war.
FRANCE – 2007 – 190 min. – color and b&w
