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Bonga : au nom de la liberté / un film de Dom Pedro ; réalisé par Dom Pedro ; une coproduction, 5 Continents, MCM, Classique Jazz, Muzzik.
- Format:
- Video
- Language:
- French
- Subjects (All):
- Musicians--Angola--Biography.
- Musicians.
- Popular music--Angola.
- Popular music.
- Bonga, 1942-.
- Bonga.
- Genre:
- Documentary films.
- Biographical films.
- Feature films.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (51 minutes)
- Other Title:
- Bonga : in the name of freedom
- Place of Publication:
- Paris, France : Qwest TV, 2000.
- Language Note:
- In French.
- System Details:
- video file
- Summary:
- When Angolan José Barcelo de Carvalho chose the pseudonym Bonga in 1972, he was already a well-known athlete and the Portuguese national record-holder in the 400 meters. The name change was a means to evade the PIDE, Salazar's political police, during the Angolan War of Independence. Born in 1942 in the north of the country, but raised in the shantytowns of the capital Luanda, he became politically conscious early on, joining both the MPLA and later UNITA. His political stance forced him into exile in Belgium, where he would take his first professional steps into the world of music. As the artist explains, Angola 72, his debut album, is deeply political--not only through its lyrics, written in traditional languages, but also through its rhythms and the choice of distinctly Angolan instruments. Those who spent unforgettable evenings at Le Discophage, the Brazilian cabaret on Rue des Écoles in Paris's 5th arrondissement in the 1970s, still remember being spellbound by his dark, raspy voice, steeped in a nostalgia so raw it could give you chills. During that time, he included in his repertoire "Sodade", a traditional song that José Da Silva--his current manager and founder of the Lusafrica label--would later ask Cape Verdean singer Cesaria Evora to record, leading to the massive hit we know today. But Bonga never reaped the rewards of that success--he arrived too early, before the boom of world music, as Manu Dibango and journalist Bouziane Daoudi point out. Philippe Lesage.
- Notes:
- Title from title screen (viewed July 03, 2025).
- OCLC:
- 1531301088
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