Amílcar

Miguel Eek / Spain, France, Portugal, Sweden & Cape Verde / 2025 / 84 min

There is hardly a greater icon in the African countries’ struggle for independence from the European colonial powers than Amílcar Cabral. The guerrilla leader, who was also a poet and agronomist, was born in Guinea-Bissau to Cape Verdean parents. And it was precisely these two countries that he fought to liberate from Portugal’s colonial clutches and unite into a single nation through weapons, ideas, and culture. 

He did so until he was assassinated in 1973 – tragically, only eight months before Guinea-Bissau was declared independent. ‘Amílcar’ is a fascinating portrait of a fascinating icon. A stylish film told through Amílcar’s own writings – both letters to his wives and his political writings – and through overwhelmingly beautiful archive footage from the time.

Amílcar was a thinker and visionary who could be diplomatic, utopian, and ruthless in his fight for freedom. And perhaps that is precisely why he ultimately had to give his life without seeing his countries liberated. The question remains: Who was really behind the murder?