Sarah was the first woman of colour
to direct a feature film in Africa
Sarah became known as the
Matriarch of African Cinema
Mario de Andrade, as a poet, critic,
and political activist
expressed the struggle for
independence of the people of
Angola from colonial rule
The voice of the oppressed and of the dissidents, the filmmaker Sarah Maldoror, a pioneer of PanAfrican cinema, passed on April 13, 2020, of complications from coronavirus. Her luminous cinematic oeuvre, including more than 40 films, reveals a valiant fighter, curious about everything, generous, sassy, very caring about others, who crossed all sorts of boundaries with her poetic approach.read full bio
None of de Andrade’s writings have yet been officially translated into English. One may read about his work in both the political and literary spheres in the shortbiographical entry in Donald E. Herdeck’s (ed.) African Authors, published by Black Orpheus press in 1973. The Portuguese version of “Song of Sabalu” translated into English here is published in Presence Africaine (1966).read full bio
Latest News
Sarah Maldoror, la voz de la negritud en cinemaldito

Sarah Maldoror, la voz de la negritud en cinemaldito

La 33ª Mostra Internacional de Films de Dones de Barcelona junto con la colaboración de la Filmoteca de Catalunya abrió sus puertas el pasado 22 de mayo con la película Shahid

Cinéma Le Gascogne : Hommage à Sarah Maldoror

Cinéma Le Gascogne : Hommage à Sarah Maldoror

Le Gascogne propose ces deux soirées à 20h30, en Hommage à Sarah Maldoror, cinéaste, artiste internationale née à Condom (1929-2020). En partenariat avec Chemins d’Art en Armagnac qui se déroule

CICLE Sarah Maldoror Filmoteca de Barcelona 23/05/2025 – 15/06/2025

CICLE Sarah Maldoror Filmoteca de Barcelona 23/05/2025 – 15/06/2025

Filmoteca  D’ascendència antillana, Sarah Maldoror (1929-2020), malgrat haver nascut a França, és recordada com “la mare del cinema africà” per ser la primera dona a rodar al continent negre i

Past Events
First PanAfrican Cultural Festival  – Screen Slate Podcast
First PanAfrican Cultural Festival – Screen Slate Podcast

After working as an assistant director on The Battle of Algiers (1966), Sarah Maldoror remained in the country to film First PanAfrican Cultural Festival (1969) with William Klein, Mohamed Bouramari, and Rabah Laradji. The polyrhythmic

Read more
A Life of Poetry and Struggles Sarah Maldoror –  Universidade Católica Portuguesa  ( Porto )
A Life of Poetry and Struggles Sarah Maldoror – Universidade Católica Portuguesa ( Porto )

A Life of Poetry and Struggles _ Escola das Artes   Sarah Maldoror foi uma cineasta cujo trabalho permanece ligado à luta pela independência em várias nações africanas nas décadas

Read more
Centre Pompidou  Sarah Maldoror Rétrospective en écho à l’exposition  « Paris noir » 3 – 7 Avril 2025 ( Paris)
Centre Pompidou Sarah Maldoror Rétrospective en écho à l’exposition « Paris noir » 3 – 7 Avril 2025 ( Paris)

La vie comme la carrière de la cinéaste Sarah Maldoror, née Marguerite Sarah Ducados en 1929, épouse tous les engagements du 20e siècle : le surréalisme, la négritude, le panafricanisme, le

Read more
Article Archive
Sarah Maldoror, la voz de la negritud en cinemaldito
Sarah Maldoror, la voz de la negritud en cinemaldito

La 33ª Mostra Internacional de Films de Dones de Barcelona junto con la colaboración de la Filmoteca de Catalunya abrió sus puertas el pasado 22 de mayo con la película Shahid

Read more
FILM COMMENT – I Write Your Name  By Devika Girish May 9,  2025
FILM COMMENT – I Write Your Name By Devika Girish May 9, 2025

Film at Lincoln Center I Write Your Name By Devika Girish Sarah Maldoror refused to settle. In 1970, when the Guadeloupean-French filmmaker was living in Algeria with her partner, Angolan

Read more
First PanAfrican Cultural Festival  – Screen Slate Podcast
First PanAfrican Cultural Festival – Screen Slate Podcast

After working as an assistant director on The Battle of Algiers (1966), Sarah Maldoror remained in the country to film First PanAfrican Cultural Festival (1969) with William Klein, Mohamed Bouramari, and Rabah Laradji. The polyrhythmic

Read more

To Sarah Maldoror…who, camera in hand, fights oppression, alienation
and defies human bullshit

Lisa SmithNY
The New Inquiry

Though her name remains unfamiliar to most, the French­born filmmaker's work is central to postcolonial African cinema

Sight & Sound

Maldoror brought to the screen the "shadow songs" of negritude and the liberation struggles of African countries.

John McGillTX
Cahiers Du Cinema