Amílcar by Miguel Eek

Amílcar is a feature-length poetic documentary essay on Amílcar Cabral (1924–1973) — agronomist, poet, and revolutionary, and one of Africa's most influential anti-colonial leaders.
Drawing on his political writings, poems, and private letters, the film re-imagines Cabral's inner voice, guiding viewers through a journey that is at once personal and historical.
Blending unpublished archives, Portuguese colonial films, and footage from the Guinean revolution with newly shot 16mm images, Amílcar builds a meditative visual diary that captures both the public figure and the private man — the visionary leader and the solitary thinker, the lover, the revolutionary.

In less than a decade, Cabral united more than a million Guineans in the struggle against Portuguese colonial rule, liberating three-quarters of the Guinea-Bissau countryside and inspiring other African nations to rise and claim their independence. Assassinated by members of his own party in 1973, his legacy remains a subject of debate and rediscovery. Named by BBC History Magazine among the world's most important leaders, Cabral's vision of justice, dignity, and liberation speaks directly to our present — a reminder that social rights are never permanent, and that the greatest danger is forgetting.

IT //
Amílcar è un lungometraggio documentario dedicato ad Amílcar Cabral (1924–1973) — agronomo, poeta e rivoluzionario, tra i leader anticoloniali più influenti d'Africa. Attingendo ai suoi scritti politici, alle poesie e alle lettere private, il film reinventa la voce interiore di Cabral, accompagnando lo spettatore in un viaggio insieme personale e storico. Intrecciando archivi inediti, filmati coloniali portoghesi e immagini della rivoluzione guineana con riprese inedite in 16mm, Amílcar costruisce un diario visivo che racchiude sia la figura pubblica che l'uomo privato: il leader visionario e il pensatore solitario, l'amante, il rivoluzionario.

In meno di un decennio, Cabral riunì oltre un milione di guineani nella lotta contro il dominio coloniale portoghese, liberando tre quarti delle campagne della Guinea-Bissau e ispirando altre nazioni africane a insorgere e rivendicare la propria indipendenza. Assassinato da membri del suo stesso partito nel 1973, la sua eredità resta ancora oggi oggetto di dibattito e riscoperta. Indicato dalla BBC History Magazine tra i più importanti leader al mondo, il pensiero di Cabral — la sua idea di giustizia, dignità e liberazione — parla direttamente al nostro presente, ricordandoci che i diritti sociali non sono mai acquisiti per sempre, e che il pericolo più grande è dimenticare.

DE //
Amílcar ist ein abendfüllender Dokumentarfilm über Amílcar Cabral (1924–1973) — Agronom, Dichter und Revolutionär, einer der einflussreichsten antikolonialen Führer Afrikas. Ausgehend von seinen politischen Schriften, Gedichten und privaten Briefen erschafft der Film Cabrals innere Stimme neu und führt die Zuschauer:innen auf eine Reise, die zugleich persönlich und historisch ist. Der Film verwebt unveröffentlichtes Archivmaterial, portugiesische Kolonialfilme und Aufnahmen der guineischen Revolution mit neu gedrehten 16-mm-Bildern und entwirft so ein visuelles Tagebuch, das sowohl die öffentliche Figur als auch den privaten Menschen einfängt: den visionären Anführer und den einsamen Denker, den Liebenden, den Revolutionär.

In weniger als einem Jahrzehnt vereinte Cabral mehr als eine Million Guineer im Kampf gegen die portugiesische Kolonialherrschaft, befreite drei Viertel des Landesinneren von Guinea-Bissau und inspirierte andere afrikanische Nationen dazu, sich zu erheben und ihre Unabhängigkeit einzufordern. 1973 von Mitgliedern seiner eigenen Partei ermordet, bleibt sein Vermächtnis bis heute Gegenstand von Debatten und Wiederentdeckung. Vom BBC History Magazine zu einem der bedeutendsten Führer der Welt gezählt, spricht Cabrals Vision von Gerechtigkeit, Würde und Befreiung direkt zu unserer Gegenwart — als Mahnung, dass soziale Rechte nie endgültig gesichert sind und dass das Vergessen die größte Gefahr bleibt.

Miguel Eek, Director’s Note

In 2013, during a trip to Cape Verde, I discovered the story of Amílcar Cabral.
I was captivated by the determination that led him to dedicate his life to what seemed an impossible dream:
uniting two countries in the struggle for independence. Who was this young African agricultural engineer?
How did he succeed in gaining international support for such a small territory to challenge Portugal?

With a small team, I began to explore these questions by interviewing his friends, family, and comrades. I soon realised that Cabral remains a deeply controversial figure, provoking opposing opinions in Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Portugal, and beyond. Developing this project has not been easy, particularly as I am neither African nor Portuguese. Yet it is perhaps precisely this position that has allowed me to be an impartial interlocutor, one in whom witnesses have placed their trust.

Over the past five years, Cabral has continued to question and challenge me. The documentary has become a profoundly personal project, conceived and reconceived, to which I have devoted myself in complete creative freedom.

Through this biopic, I seek to reclaim Cabral – his life and his thought – as a lens through which to explore both the vulnerability of the human condition and the need for vigilance. We live in turbulent times, in which intolerance proliferates in Europe and across the world. Today, Cabral’s story reminds us that the hard-won rights of social justice are never permanent; they must be re-earned by every generation. The greatest danger we face is forgetting.

A luta sempre continua…

Miguel Eek (Madrid, 1982) is a documentary filmmaker and producer.
He graduated from ESCAC (Escola Superior de Cinema i Audiovisuals de Catalunya) and completed a residency at Arcada University of Applied Sciences in Helsinki.
His films focus on social margins, collective memory and formal experimentation, moving between close observation and essayistic cinema. Often the result of long processes of research and dialogue with their protagonists, his works develop a poetics that oscillates between testimony and political reflection, addressing themes such as identity, gender, historical memory, and cinema as a space for community encounter.

His films have been selected and awarded at more than fifty festivals worldwide. City of the Dead (2019) screened at some thirty festivals, including Fipadoc and Seminci, and received the City of Palma Award. The same year, his feature The First Woman (2020) had its world premiere in the First Appearance section of IDFA and went on to screen at more than twenty international festivals. His most recent film, Burden (2024), co-produced by TV3 and Filmin, premiered at Fidba. Sinc

Q&A
Martina Droandi is a sales agent and founder in 2025 of Odd Slice Films. She was awarded a scholarship to the DOCNOMADS joint master's in Documentary Directing, where she quickly realised her real passion wasn’t behind the camera, but in helping films find their place in the world. Eight European countries later, after gaining experience through short film distribution, the Atelier Ludwigsburg-Paris and a seven-month stint at mk2 as a festival assistant, Martina settled in Austria in 2019 to work as Sales & Acquisition Manager at Autlook Filmsales. She started working on her own since April 2024 as consultant and sales agent, and set up Odd Slice Films during the summer of 2025.

A CONVERSATION WITH MIGUEL EEK
THE ARCHIVE AS BRIDGE
Reframing archive footage to build a portrait

AMÍLCAR