CANHÃO DE BOCA

Credits

Name: CANHÃO DE BOCA

Country: Kapverden

Year of publication: 2017

Format: DCP

Language : OF m. engl. UT

Duration: 52 Minuten

Direction: Ângelo Lopes

Abstract

No sooner has Amélia Araújo returned from supporting the struggle against Portuguese colonial troops with Rádio Libertação in the jungle of Guinea-Bissau than – in 1975 – she is being called upon as a key support figure for the newly installed Socialist government in the now-independent Cape Verde islands. While the government increasingly converts the country into an authoritarian state, she is given the task of stylising those responsible for independence as national heroes and thus supporting the regime. In his debut film CANHÃO DE BOCA (MOUTH CANON), which is styled as a look-back-in-time documentary, director Ângelo Lopes examines the former freedom fighter alongside luminaries such as the writer Rosário da Luz, whose work also takes a critical look at the glorification of independence and highlights its impact on the political and social culture of the Cape Verde islands. In doing so, Lopes uses a key part of Cape Verdean history to show how the media can be used both as an instrument in the fight against oppression but also as a powerful tool by authoritarian regimes.