Background
Born Sarah Ducados in 1938 in Gers, the daughter of immigrants from Guadaloupe, she chose her artist"s name in remembrance of Les Chants de Maldoror by Lautréamont.
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Sarah Maldoror
Edit ProfileEducation
She attended a drama school in Paris. Together with her husband, Angolan nationalist Mário Pinto de Andrade, she received a scholarship and studied film with Mark Donskoi in Moscow in 1961-1962 where she met Ousmane Sembène.
Career
She is best known for her feature film Sambizanga (1972) on the 1961-1974 war in Angola. After her studies, Sarah Maldoror, worked as an assistant on Gillo Pontecorvo"s acclaimed film, The Battle of Algiers (1966). She also worked as an assistant to Algerian director Ahmed Lallem.
Maldoror"s short film, Monangambee (1968), was set in Angola, based on a story by Angolan writer José Luandino Vieira.
This 17-minute long film"s title, Monangambée, refers to the call used by Angolan anti-colonial activists to signal a village meeting. The film was shot with amateur actors in Algeria.
The film was selected for the Director"s Fortnight at Cannes in 1971, representing Angola. Her first feature film, Sambizanga, was also based on a story by Vieira.
Maldoror is one of the first women to direct a feature film in Africa.
Therefore, her work is often included in studies of the role of African women in African cinema. Sarah Maldoror ou la nostalgie de l’utopie by Anne Laure Folly, France /Togo, 1998.
Achievements
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Born
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Nationality
France