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
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

The UCLA Film & Television Archive and Los Angeles Filmforum present – Sarah Maldoror: Through a Lens of Resistance and Rebellion

The UCLA Film & Television Archive and Los Angeles Filmforum present – Sarah Maldoror: Through a Lens of Resistance and Rebellion

  Saturday May 10, 2025, 7:30pm At the Billy Wilder Theater at the Hammer Museum More info at: https://www.cinema.ucla.edu/events/sarah-maldoror-through-a-lens-of-resistance-and-rebellion-2025-05-10 Free In-person:  Q&A with producer and distributor Annouchka de Andrade, daughter of Maldoror,

MoMA presents: a full-scale retrospective of Sarah Maldoror ( NYC)

MoMA presents: a full-scale retrospective of Sarah Maldoror ( NYC)

  MoMA presents a full-scale retrospective of Sarah Maldoror (1929–2020), the first of its kind in North America, celebrating the pioneering French filmmaker whose work gave voice to the anti-colonial

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

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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

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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

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Article Archive
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
Centre Pompidou Magazine Sarah Maldoror: Cinema as a Form of Combat
Centre Pompidou Magazine Sarah Maldoror: Cinema as a Form of Combat

Sarah Maldoror_ Cinema as a Form of Combat – Magazine – Centre Pompidou A committed filmmaker deeply involved in anti-colonial movements, Sarah Maldoror (1929–2020) is the subject of a retrospective

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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