Film festival FORUM 50: Monangambeee & The Murder of Fred Hampton

By Sarah Maldoror & Howard Alk

FORUM 50 Jahre

Monangambeee
by Sarah Maldoror (Algeria 1969, French, ST: E, 16’)

“Monangambeee” was a rallying cry used by activists during Angola’s anti-colonial liberation struggle to gather villages together. Monangambeee is also the title of a short film by Sarah Maldoror that addresses Portuguese arrogance towards Angolan culture. The filmmaker draws on a novella by José Luandino Vieira, the story of a political prisoner, to make a film about humiliation, solidarity and resistance. (Stefanie Schulte Strathaus)


The Murder of Fred Hampton

by Howard Alk (USA 1971, English, 88’)

In late 1968, Mike Gray and Howard Alk began working on a documentary on Black Panther activist Fred Hampton. When Hampton was shot in his apartment during a raid by the Chicago police, this changed the film in turn. While the first half is a portrait of Hampton, the second half revolves around the events of 4 December 1969. Images from mainstream media were edited together with footage from the crime scene and witness testimonies. As the film title reveals, the film comes to the conclusion that the death of Fred Hampton was not the result of his armed resistance, but was – plain and simple – murder. It is not surprising that a film lab in Chicago refused to develop the footage and a newspaper would not print any adverts for it. The film had created a media counter-public that faced corresponding resistance. (Alejandro Bachmann)
 

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