Africa Addio

"What the camera sees it films pitilessly, without sympathy, without taking sides," it begins. "This film only says farewell to the old Africa and gives the world a picture of its agony." As colonialism collapsed in 1960s Africa, Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi rushed to the Dark Continent to record the horrifying battle for control that followed. Here was a world now ruled by rebels and refugees, plunderers and poachers, mercenaries and murderers, a land suddenly aflame with brutality, racism and unspeakable slaughter. At the risk of their own lives, the filmmakers' cameras captured it all. The result is a daring and disturbing work that ranks among the greatest achievements in documentary cinema, an experience that remains as shocking - and shockingly relevant - as it was 40 years ago. This is Africa Blood And Guts!
Despite thunderous acclaim, worldwide controversy drove this masterpiece from American theaters shortly after its premiere. Some years later, U.S. distributors would remove over 45 minutes of political content and re-release it, a move that Prosperi and Jacopetti both disowned and despised. (Verleiher-Text)