Original subtitles

OCR'd, corrected and foreign parts added by ♦ ♦ NILNUWAN ♦ ♦

It's 1975.

The Vietnam War is over but the Cold War still rages.

The two powers, USA and USSR,

are tearing the world apart to expand their influence.

That same year, the Portuguese colonial empire has collapsed.

After five centuries of domination,

Portugal is leaving her African colonies.

The last and most coveted, Angola.

This crown jewel will soon be an independent country.

Independence Day has been booked.

It's in the calender.

November the 11th, just a month away.

But as usual, it's never that simple.

While the Portuguese flee, taking as much as they can,

a civil war erupts between two Angolan factions.

For the winner, a land rich in diamonds and petrol

which is why the two world powers have picked their sides

and just like that,

Angola has become the new Cold War chessboard.

Russia is backing the socialist MPLA,

while the capitalists, FNLA and UNITA,

they have America watching their backs.

Armed to the teeth, they want power at any price.

Most often, the price of their brother's blood.

Many are convinced the country will turn into a hell.

Those who could, were fleeing Angola.

Me, I was bent on going there.

[ DEATH TO COMMUNISTS DEATH TO MPLA ]

This country won't last,

40 years of work I put in here!

Please, could you hurry up?

Who's gonna pay me back?

Faster, we need to get others here.

Give me a break, do you see any soldiers?

Do you really want to wait here until they come?

They say they will kill tonight.

Calm down, calm down, my friend.

- They say they are planning it. - They won't attack today.

Nobody's coming, okay?

I have information, alright?

It's a cosmic mess and they have a word for that here.

Confusao! Confusao! Confusao!

It's a good word, a synthesis word,

- Excuse me, there's no water. - an everything word.

In my room, the water does not work.

Water I don't know. Confusao! Yes.

But if the FNLA, if they are really backed

by the Americans, won't that end the war?

I don't know! Confusao!

- Ah, forget it! - I don't know!

Confusao! Haven't I told you already?

Only Confusao!

Hey, Dona Cartagina.

Ricardo, hi!

My name is Ryszard Kapuciski.

I work for the Polish Press Agency,

their only foreign reporter, covering 50 countries

around the world.

A new Africa is being born in Angola.

There is no way I was not going to be here.

And this is Luanda, city of paranoia,

city of chaos, my favorite.

Welcome to my cage.

[ CONNECTION ]

It's him again, are you kidding me?

Good morning, you're a pain in the ass, Mr. Kapuciski.

Nelson, hello.

- And what is it this time? - I want to go south.

Huh! Are you crazy?

You are not taking a step

- out of this city. - Come on.

The southern front, your only outpost down there.

Pereira d'Eca, that place is the key.

- South Africa's really close... - The last thing

- the MPLA needs... - And we all know it's got

- America's backing. - Is a dead reporter.

Come on, whose your commander in the south?

- Just a name. - Farrusco.

- Good, Farrusco. - Oh, no, no, no.

It's 1,500 kilometers away.

- Pereira d'Eca. - No!

How many different ways can I tell you no?

- There's my story. - Nein.

- Nein! - Niet.

Yes. Neit.

Why are you smiling, man?

- I will get my permit. - You think so, huh?

And I'll be back tomorrow.

Great, bring your smile.

Oh, I will, my wife says it's the first thing

she noticed about me.

I'm talking about a free country, Friedkin.

A free country?

You're wrong.

November 11th, Independence Day for every...

Here we go again, MPLA dailies.

Our patrols will be placed here, here.

Excuse me, is that with Soviet help or Cuban, Mr. Nelson?

Jesus, stop it, Friedkin, it's boring already.

No, it's not...

The only foreign power trying to take hold here

- is your very own CIA. - No, no, no, no,

- no, no, no, no, - Backing the cannibals

- of UNITA. - No, no, no, no.

- The Cubans are already here. - Write that in your newspaper

Admit it, Artur.

- It's rumors! - Just like the CIA.

No, no, no, the CIA is not rumors.

Rumors, yes, they are rumors.

You know what, no more.

This is my country, that is what you don't understand.

I grew up under injustice and the absence of freedom.

Not mine. Somebody else's.

And my mother whispered in my ear,

"Son, you must always stand with those who suffer".

I unconditionally positioned myself on the side of the...

of the MPLA.

We had a popular army. People armed themselves.

You, me, anyone.

And at that time, in 1975,

I was in that fight when I met Kapuściński, Ricardo.

Come on, guys, all you talk about is rumors

the whole time, what's really going on?

Not Luanda, not Benguela, here.

Pereira d'Eca, the southern front.

This is where the war will be decided.

- This is where I'm gonna go. - Good luck.

The MPLA commander down there is called Farrusco.

Farrusco, I heard of him.

Holding the entire southern front.

One man, the entire front.

You're chasing ghosts, Kapuciski

You think Nelson's news is any more real?

- We don't have facts here. - Just confusao, huh?

Yes, and everybody is afraid to say anything

- in case the CIA... - Ah, CIA!

And how could you know all this, huh?

Oh, yeah, Ricardo likes to play spy.

I just like to get to the heart of things.

Farrusco, he's the story.

I know him!

Fucking bastard, piece of shit.

- Wow, smells like a brewery. - Motherfucker!

Farrusco, fucking traitor!

A traitor?

Yeah, he's fucking Portuguese, just like me.

We came together to Angola.

Portuguese paratroopers.

But he is a deserter, he joined the MPLA.

And now that fucking son of a bitch,

he will die for those Communist bastards.

- Yeah, Communist bastards.

If I see him again, I'll cut his fucking throat

from ear to ear.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, hey, hey.

Is this your friend?

Take him home, teach him how to drink.

I guess you call that a reliable source, huh?

The only MPLA man in the South protecting Angola

is a Portuguese traitor?

Excellent, too good to miss.

No, no, no. Nobody's gonna give you a pass.

So come with me, Artur.

You're Angolan, I don't need the permit if you take me there.

You fuckin' crazy.

Couldn't be more serious, my friend.

The South, it's different.

You don't know the enemy from a friend down there.

They're not even wearing uniforms.

It's Russian Roulette, Ricardo.

Come with me, Artur.

You know what?

Let's go to the best place in town.

- Let's go! - Let's go!

He loved that atmosphere.

Especially that of the suburbs and the musseques.

The biggest support for the MPLA

came from the neighborhoods and the musseques.

MPLA's activists were heavily armed in the neighborhoods,

and when we entered we felt at home,

totally safe.

With Angola independent,

that's the whole continent now.

- Africa's waking up, huh? - Ah, feels good, huh?

But you know what?

- She needs names. - Names?

Slave traders took millions of people,

but can we name a single victim?

Africa doesn't need victims.

No, no, no, but her entire history has been anonymous.

Now she needs a voice.

Yeah, what, like an African Che Guevara?

- Why not? - Yeah, why not?

God, help us, come on, Friedkin.

When Che Guevara arrived in the Congo,

the command structure was in numbers.

First-in-Command, number one,

Second-in-Command, two and Che took only number three.

Three, number three?

Yes, just a translator because that way,

he stays low, under the net, finds the truth

and puts the black man above the white man.

Ah, so the bullet takes the black guy first, genius.

Enough!

Enough, enough, enough talk.

Now, we dance.

Come on, Friedkin, dance!

Free Angola!

Ricardo, I've been through the whole hotel.

Every room is such a mess.

It's the FNLA.

Please, Ricardo, go back to Poland.

You are not safe here.

[ YOU'RE DEAD, SOCIALIST REPORTER ]

Do you know when you're living on the edge

and your life is no longer worth a great deal?

It's much easier to make friends. We became friends.

A friendship that's only possible when you are totally hopeless.

No.

My dear students,

who can tell me what draws a man out into the world?

Curiosity, hunger for experience?

The man who ceases to be astonished is hollow.

Possessed of an extinguished heart.

If he believes he's seen it all,

then something most precious has died within him.

The delight in life.

The city is dying, disappearing.

First, the Portuguese police left,

and the country fell into anarchy.

Then, the firemen left,

then the garbage men,

finally the colonials saying good-bye to their African homes

with a mixture of despair and anger.

In the docks of Luanda, a new wooden city begins to rise.

Portuguese lives boxed up in crates.

The richer the people, the bigger the crate.

Everything has to be squeezed in.

All that remains to do is to lock the door

and say your final goodbye.

All they wanted was to save their lives and their property.

They didn't want Angola anymore.

It's one hell of a news report, Polish.

Did ya put all that in your telex?

Oh boy, your bosses must love ya.

Come on, we gotta go, Nelson's called a press conference.

Huh?

Artur, come on.

This guy, he's a fake.

He's running after this imaginary Francesco.

- Farrusco. - Artur!

You know what I've seen? I've seen his reports, Artur,

there's nothing there, absolutely nothing.

Now he wants you to drive him to the south.

Are you both crazy for Christ sake?

You'll get yourself killed!

Ah, damn it.

Ah, hello, no really?

Pack light.

- Yeah. - Hey!

- You can't do this to me! - Bye, bye, Friedkin.

Bye, bye, Luanda. - Assholes.

♪ America ♪

♪ Do you ever think this world is yours ♪

♪ And you, Russia, yeah, yeah ♪

♪ Do you ever think this world is yours ♪

Remember what I told you at the bar?

About Russian Roulette?

Yeah.

Well, there is one thing you can do at the check point.

You can give the right greeting.

We, the MPLA, we salute each other with

- "Camarada". - "Camarada".

Uh-huh, our enemy, they call each other

- "Irmâo". - "Irmâo".

Choose the wrong one, you can start digging your own grave.

Heads or tails.

- Yeah, and you know what? - What?

They never salute first.

♪ America ♪

♪ Do you ever think this world is yours ♪

Kapuściński suffered the reporter's insanity that takes you

to places which could be the last... But you go.

And he went.

The MPLA had the support of more than 90% of the Angolan people.

Each citizen turned a defender of his homeland.

Women, children,

old people, the sick... Everyone.

Those from FNLA and UNITA were professional assassins.

They murdered peasant towns of northern Angola

in cold blood.

♪ America ♪

♪ Do you ever think this world is yours ♪

♪ And you Russia, yeah, yeah ♪

♪ Do you ever think this world is yours ♪

When was the last time you were here?

Since '75. I never came back.

- And what do you feel? - Maybe a little anguish.

- Help! - Stop, stop the car.

It could be a trap.

Shit.

FNLA and UNITA are cruel armies.

They are cannibals.

Artur told me some days ago and I didn't believe him.

Artur, there's one alive, there's one kid alive.

What I saw, what I witnessed on this road was maybe

the most infernal image I've ever seen in my life.

Imagine several kilometers of road scattered with corpses.

About 40 or 50 km.

We got out of the car and ran to check if there was any child alive.

But they were all dead.

Mothers and children killed by the same shot.

I lost peace forever.

Right here on this road.

I was aware they were going to massacre us here,

it was almost like a death foretold.

Put your head down!

Remember what I told you.

"Irmâo" or "Camarada".

- Yeah, yeah. - Heads or tails.

Press, press, we are from press.

Easy. Easy.

Let's say something, huh?

- Camarada. - MPLA!

Shit, they're the FNLA.

Get down, get down!

You two, sons of bitches! Up, now!

Put your hands up!

Just be still, I will talk.

Be still, just be still.

- Put your hands up. - Okay, okay, don't shoot.

- MPLA. - Please don't shoot.

Camarada.

We are from the press, reporters.

What the fuck are you doing here?

We have a permit.

Bring me some medicine and bandages from the truck, now.

Shove it up your ass, reporter.

You, what's your name?

Kambale.

How old are you?

They pay you to fight?

They give food, they pay if we win the battle.

So do you win any?

I never fire a gun, they promise me school after war.

Take the injured and the bodies to my truck, now.

I was a journalist

and a fighter at the same time.

I had to... shoot.

That's not worthy of a journalist, but I was a fighter too.

I'm aware I broke

my professional code.

And not only I broke it, but also torpedoed it.

Do you remember if you killed someone?

I hope not. Whoever it was.

Not even the cruelest assassin.

No. I hope not.

Alright, come on, Ricardo, get in the car,

we have to go.

Ricardo.

Ricardo.

Ricardo, tomorrow morning, the FNLA is gonna

put all of this in the papers.

Blaming the MPLA.

We have to report it first.

Artur, I have to go south.

What are you talking about?

That road leads only to hell.

Artur.

I'll see you in Luanda.

I hope so, my friend,

- I hope so. - Okay, come on, let's go.

We have to reach Benguela as soon as possible.

White man...

Photo, please, photo, photo, please.

They all want to be photographed.

To leave a trace, to remain.

I was here, this is how I looked.

This is the face I had when I was alive.

Hey, you, you, white man!

Welcome to Benguela,huh?

You are in the wrong place, there's nothing here.

Luanda that way.

Well I'm going south, Pereira d'Eca.

Farrusco, huh?

Nobody is going to Farrusco.

Don't listen to him, he's crazy, he's nobody.

Nobody, huh?

I'm Carlos.

- Carlos, bring that over here! - Yes, ma'am.

- Hello amigo. - Hello, hi.

Come upstairs.

It was very weird he was there,

a lonely Polish reporter...

Why a Polish man?

He shook my hand vigorously.

He wasn't looking for friends.

He was looking for people with authority

who could take him to the key points of the war.

Take me to the south.

No, no south!

I sent five supply trucks two months ago to Farrusco.

No one came back.

We lost comms a month ago.

I'm wasting no more men or supplies on Farrusco.

He's dead already, as far as I know.

Look around you, soldiers barely out of diapers.

No ammunition.

Maybe Poland will help, you're socialist, right?

You help me, and I'll help you.

Weapons, mortars, machine guns, tanks.

Write that to your readers.

I will write, I can get your story out there,

but what about one full convoy to Farrusco.

No!

Come on, listen.

Not just another defenseless truck.

But a proper, military expedition

and if it will succeed,

I will have two heroes in the South.

Farrusco and Daddy.

So...

You want my best soldier.

She drove me here.

- You like Carlota, huh? - Yeah.

She saved my life.

And then you will write about Daddy, huh?

- And then I will write. - Hm.

Deal.

Come on, guys, you help us?

How could you go wrong with her in the frame?

She has a smile that the world puts on magazine covers.

The face of Angola.

Carlota had such a charisma

that from the beginning was intimately tied

to the guarantee of victory.

She was a very arrogant guerrilla, very determined,

with her Kalashnikov...

She had her own project of a nation.

And she was very concerned about children,

about how children would be educated in Angola

in the foreseeable future.

♪ I would dive kills for you ♪

Carlota, Carlota!

♪ And in the mind ♪

♪ Our strongest hold ♪

♪ To the battle ♪

♪ From my brother ♪

♪ Many reasons just won't change ♪

♪ No time for pain ♪

♪ Marching to the valley of the souls ♪

Kapuściński asked me,

"Are you scared?"

And I said, "The further we go, the greater will be the danger".

And he smiled at me and said,

"When the shots start, fear disappears".

♪ Under red sky ♪

♪ Marching to the valley of the souls ♪

Are you a spy or what?

Relax Carlota, he's our friend.

- Thank you. - For what?

You made Daddy Cool help Farrusco.

Do you know him?

Everybody knows Farrusco.

The Portuguese who changed sides.

He's everything the MPLA stand for.

He took Lubango with very few men.

He captured Pereira d'Eca.

He fired mortars himself, no base.

Held them in his hands, burning from hot barrels,

blisters and sores everywhere.

He's a great man.

He taught us how to fight.

He will see us to victory.

It is an honor to fight beside him.

When did you join the MPLA?

I have always been in the MPLA.

Of course.

I love my country, do you not love yours?

Yes, I do.

Do you have war in your country?

There were some in the past, terrible ones.

I remember at the beginning of war more than the end.

- You fought? - No, no, I was a child

and children didn't fight then.

I was seven years old.

What's that grandfather?

Remember this day, Rysiek. Remember, remember.

For a long time I thought this was the world.

This is how it looks, what life is like.

- But it stopped? - What?

- Your war. - Ah, yes.

Many years ago, yes.

But when you've lived through war,

you can never be free of it.

Ah, I don't know.

So why you come here?

I tried many different jobs, but...

war was my first understanding of the world.

First, the vision. Then, the smell.

We saw corpses

of soldiers and guerrillas.

They were about to burst, they were all swollen.

Carlota said that could cause a plague,

that it was dangerous for the health of the children

who were playing nearby.

Kapuściński also helped

to spray the bodies with petrol.

Then Carlota,

with her machine gun and Commander Toni

fired to set them on fire.

Poland is in Europe?

Yes, yes, yeah.

So you miss your home?

Of course, yeah.

But when I'm there, I miss Africa more.

What about you?

Hm?

When the war is over?

With the MPLA, Angola will be free.

And then you'll see, children will go to school

and be healthy and I will be there,

working for my country.

Oh yes, and what will you do?

I trained to be a nurse.

Maybe I should become a doctor.

You were really good with that boy yesterday.

Really, could be a surgeon, maybe.

Maybe, but you know, sometimes,

I faint when I see blood.

Ricardo, in two months I will be 20.

I want my own children, but first we have to win this war.

Maybe one day I will read about myself, huh?

I hope so, I'm sure.

Ricardo.

Then they won't forget us.

You have my word.

Carlota, the enemy waits in the forest,

- next to Balombo. - Okay, give me a minute.

- We're aborting. - What?

We'll resume the mission tomorrow.

Carlos, take him back to Benguela.

- Yes, ma'am. - Why?

No, Carlota, stay with us.

We'll have dinner tonight and tomorrow

we can go together to Lisbon, huh?

What's going on, Carlota.

Go, right now!

Silence took over us

when the car started.

We were afraid of what could happen

because it was a battlefront.

There were thick dark clouds in the night sky.

Now I'm gonna kiss you there.

Oh yeah, you know what that is, don't you?

Okay, that's right.

Oh, you know I like.

You are not going anywhere, Polish.

No escort.

There was an attack.

Everybody's dead.

Carlota?

Like I said, everybody.

You want my best soldier.

She saved my life.

You like Carlota.

The victories of the revolutionary war come at a high price:

Camarada Carlota,

who we had just interviewed at the Balombo's front.

Less than 24 hours later, Carlota dropped dead.

Kapuściński said,

"We should have insisted until the end".

Feelings of guilt increased.

Kapuściński cried,

I had already cried at the hotel.

And I said to Kapuściński,

"Carlota has died, they're going to lose the war".

And Kapuściński replied, "Morally, I think so".

Where are you going, Ricardo?

No, please, stay, this is not our fault.

We're just reporters, Ricardo. We are just reporters,

there was nothing we could do.

Listen to me, Ricardo.

I still miss her.

Carlos, wake up, take me to Farrusco.

So why you come here?

No, no, no, no!

You two sons of bitches, get down!

What the fuck are you doing here?

Ricardo, go back to home now.

Go right now!

The struggle continues!

Victory is certain!

Ricardo, wake up, wake up!

Wake up, Ricardo!

You wanna live, then, shoot, shoot!

Shoot!

Yeah, we did it!

I told you!

I know him, he opens the door!

He's my friend.

Commandante!

- Ammunition? - So it's not that bad, yeah?

Look, I got you two cans of gas, and several rounds of ammo,

I mean--- I mean, no ammo, but...

but I got flour

and---and the reporter, yeah.

- He's from Poland. - Ryszard Kapuciski from the Polish...

I need ammo,

vehicles,

supplies,

soldiers,

and you bring me

a fucking reporter.

What the fuck are you doing here, reporter?

You want an interview?

So...

Ask me something.

Now?

Yes, now, before those

motherfuckers start shooting again.

So, General Farrusco, you are a hero,

a face of the cause.

Come on, cause?

What cause, can you load a cause into a pistol?

Next question.

Next question.

How have you held the southern front for this long?

See these lines?

On the floor?

They're the nearest you get to the front.

Stray over there and the sniper's bullet is yours.

And what about South Africa?

- They want Luanda. - What do you mean?

I mean, they have their tanks, armored cars,

their fucking CIA dollars

and they're on the border.

So, they're already here?

That's just 100 kilometers.

We're the only ones who stand in their way.

You know how many of us there are?

50, last count.

Write this.

We're a detachment condemned to extermination.

Hey, come here, you gotta see something.

81 years old, she bakes bread.

For over 60 years, she bakes bread

and she refuses to leave.

We love that woman, she's not for us, not for them.

She's for life, life and bread.

That's enough.

More than enough.

That's the end of the press conference, my friend.

I hope you got what you wanted.

Welcome to your grave.

Why did you change sides?

They shipped us in.

Elite Portuguese paratroopers.

And they showed us these boys,

these 12 year old boys.

They were the enemy we were supposed to be fighting with.

12 year old boys.

That is not me.

But then, look at me now, look at my soldiers.

Boys will die anyway.

So here I am again.

Confusao.

I have a son born to me in Lubango.

Big, strong boy, they tell me.

Make his papa proud.

I haven't seen him, probably won't ever.

You know, Polish?

I'm not afraid of death, but I don't feel any fear.

Joaquim António Lopes Farrusco.

I was born in Portugal.

The first image I have

is the one that changed my life.

I remember it as if it was today.

It was a small child,

with very ripped, very old, very dirty clothes.

He shouted, "Give me a coin! Give me bread!"

I got sad and I said to myself,

"Here they're in the same situation I was in my country".

That barefoot boy reminded me

of my adolescence.

I didn't come to defend anyone,

I probably came to oppress, right?

I was a commando, from the special forces.

I was 24.

It wasn't very difficult for me

to take a single side:

the side of the most disadvantaged.

It was very difficult to survive in that front.

A very broad front.

I had nothing except a handful of guerrillas

and the good will of MPLA's supporters, the people.

Kapuściński talked to me for a few hours.

And we talked about my son who, by life's paradoxes,

ended up being killed by UNITA.

He was simply killed because I'm General Farrusco,

and they knew who General Farrusco was.

It was revenge.

Many parents lost their children.

I wasn't the only one.

Head forward, stretch.

Squats.

10 more.

C'mon, it's not the fucking weekend, move it, lads, faster.

And jumping jacks.

Another day of life, Polish.

Hey!

Did I tell you to stop?

Move it, squats now, come on, look alive!

They moved.

South Africans?

They were spotted this morning,

they're crossing the border right now.

- Then Luanda needs to know. - That's what you're gonna do.

- Okay, but how? - You will go with Carlos.

They're slow, they've got tanks, armored carriers,

heavy artillery, columns of heavy stuff.

You go there now when we have at least a couple

- of days advantage. - Okay.

Tell them I need reinforcements, ammunition, mortars, you hear me?

- Yeah. - Carlos, how much time you need?

- Two hours. - Make it one.

Have a look, Lubango is here.

It's 400 kilometers plus 350 and should reach Benguela

by this time tomorrow.

Then you'll have, silence.

Silence!

This is way too fucking soon!

- The South African Army is on the move. - Change of plan, you go now!

- But the car's not ready... - Now, take your positions!

Behind the wall, to the roof!

Come on, boys, it's not the fucking weekend.

- Ah shit! - Do we have gas?

Do we have enough gas?

Come on, Carlos!

Any resistance, I believe,

is futile, surrender now.

We are here to free Angola.

Resistance is futile.

Get inside, get back, get inside!

The South African Army is on the move, surrender now, now.

I'm heading there, with the AK, fighting.

I think, "Well, here I have a few minutes left, let's..."

let's fight to death with those guys".

I'm already dead.

The stream of blood was huge.

I heard, but I couldn't see.

And my subconscious told me,

"Careful, calm down, there's no problem, all will be fine".

There was a second voice inside me that gave me...

some life.

When the South Africans arrived, I got stuck there.

In the hospital.

It was an unequal fight.

The South African artillery, the South African armour,

the helicopters' machine guns...

And even so, they resisted fighting for four hours.

Nearly all of those who resisted there died.

It was a massacre. That was a massacre.

Kapuściński left Luanda to come and see what was happening.

To tell the world that South African forces

were invading the Angolan territory.

The world denied it.

I think this was his mission.

A mission that led him to me, to the south of Angola.

A green soldier fears everything.

He shoots anywhere, just so long as he can shoot.

He has an important battle to win.

The war was his own fear.

He is killing his own terror.

Tell me he has to call them, hold on, yeah.

Huh?

Ricardo?

Son of a bitch.

Ricardo, Ricardo, my friend.

Artur.

Oh, my friend.

So good to see you.

You look like shit.

And I feel like shit.

What's been happening?

South Africa's been happening.

What? They're here?

They're south.

It was a rather distressing conversation

because that day, we knew we were going to lose.

We were living the last days of our lives.

Because they were going to get in shortly.

As soon as I told him to leave,

he replied, "No, I'll stay with you",

because I don't intend to yield on my place by an invading army.

This is my mission.

I'll stay with you and I'll send my last news...

That's what he said to me.

I need to see Nelson.

No, things have changed.

You need to see the Cubans.

Listen, the southern front no longer exists.

The South Africans are here, they took Pereira d'Eca

yesterday morning, I was there with Farrusco.

It's not just soldiers, it's a regular army.

Two battalions, tanks, armored carriers, artillery,

they have American support.

So what are you going to do now?

Are you telling Russia?

Russia won't support Cuba.

So Cuba will go at it alone?

Thank you, Ricardo, we are not here, you understand.

The CIA, yes, the CIA organized everything.

The CIA against Angola.

South African troops invaded Southern Angola, the central plateau.

They took Benguela, Lobito and continued.

We were besieged in Luanda.

Ricardo always said, "It's racism spread all around Africa".

I f these guys win, we're going to have an apartheid all over Africa".

That's what he thought.

The MPLA was alone, MPLA forces were alone.

Soviets abandoned us.

The Camarada President had to ask for help to Cuba.

And Camarada Fidel didn't hesitate, he didn't wait for Kremlin's orders.

All men to the front, all men to the front.

Fight for the future of Angola!

Only four more days for Independence.

This is Cold War, Artur.

Forgot about the colonization and independence,

this now is Cold War

and Cold War never ends.

And I will have played my part.

Ricardo, all you did was tell the Cubans what you saw.

Is that your agency? Why are you going to report?

Artur, we are the only journalists in the world

with this information.

Cuba getting involved like this, I have to give them something.

We were certain that either

we won the battle of information or they would destroy us.

And the MPLA would never take power.

Ricardo, if you make Cuba public...

Yes, I know.

It will change the course of events.

Change the--

The CIA will intercept your telex

and then America will want to do a whole lot more

than just back South Africa.

They will erase Angola from the map.

This is not about Cold War, Ricardo,

this is about lives.

That's the future of Angola, my friend.

He, knowing that it was a large-scale operation,

had doubts about whether he should send the telex or not.

We were reporters and we gave our lives for our job.

Cuba mobilizing against South Africa is big

and I am a reporter.

I have a scoop here.

We, reporters, we wait our whole lives

for an opportunity like this.

My dear students.

Who can tell me what draws a man out into the world?

Curiosity, hunger for experience?

The man who ceases to be astonished is hollow.

Possessed of an extinguished heart.

Excuse me, Professor, I've got a question for you.

Yes?

Just by being there, you change everything,

- wouldn't you agree? - Ah, change what?

Fate.

The fate of an individual, of a war,

of an entire people.

But if I wasn't there, the world wouldn't learn.

But if you weren't there, the war would be different.

Exchanges of fire might be shorter,

people might not die.

People die in war.

It's important the world reads about it.

You haven't answered my question.

Certainly, Ricardo became

a fighter of our cause, in his own way. Certainly.

[ ENTER (SEND) ]

Kapuściński and I went to the airport.

And when I saw those Cubans and those weapons arriving

I thought we still had some chance of winning.

They're calling it a "Operation Carlota".

The Cuban offensive.

Half of the Cubans are descendants of Angolan slaves.

But you know the story of Carlota,

the Cuban slave girl.

She picked up a machete to lead a slave uprising

in the 19th century.

She died fighting for liberation, Ricardo.

Operation Carlota.

Maybe one day I will read about myself, huh?

Yes, one day, you will.

Surrender now, resistance is futile.

Thank you, Ricardo, we are not here.

It's a special kind of oppressiveness we feel now.

A vice tightening.

A growing sense of danger and fear

because this is a lesson drawn from history.

That blood will flow.

Crucial events cannot occur without it.

In Angola, they have a word for this, remember?

Confusao.

A state of anarchy and disorder,

absolute disorientation, we see it raging around us

but we can't do anything to stop it.

It can explode in a crowd,

sweep through a mass of people

and then there is fighting and arson and death.

It can rain over an entire territory,

sweep through millions and then...

There is war.

If the Soviet Union and Cuban military forces

continue actions such as Angola,

we will without any questions resist.

Because they had everything planned

in order to take over Angola before November 11th.

We're not looking for oil, diamonds or any material interest.

We're fulfilling an elementary internationalist duty

when we're helping the people of Angola.

The Central Committee of the MPLA

solemnly proclaims

before Africa and the whole world, the independence of Angola.

It was the happiest day of my life.

This Africa being born in Angola

was an Africa without neocolonialism,

the Africa of a complete and authentic liberation.

Kapuściński and I went to have a drink of Carta Blanca rum

to celebrate it. A small celebration.

We hugged.

We were very happy.

Victory is certain! Victory is certain!

The war has changed.

It's no longer a civil war,

it's now an international conflict and it will last for years.

My money ran out a long time ago.

I'm on my last legs, I'm barely alive.

I ask you for permission to return home.

Good times are ahead, my friend.

I sincerely hope so, Artur.

What's the matter, Ricardo?

- Passport. - Come on, my friend.

I know that face, what's the matter?

I had these students asking me about journalism.

When we arrive, we change things.

We do, we do change things and you did, Ricardo.

You helped us, you helped Angola.

Yeah, yeah, but.

Ah, I know, my friend. I know.

Confusao.

Thank you for everything.

It is powerful, this confusao.

It steals into our hearts, you cannot beat it,

you can only get through it.

And emerge exhausted,

satisfied that you managed

to survive, but gathering strength

for when it comes again,

which it will, it always will.

But even then, it has something we can grab hold of,

to avoid being sucked in and that's how you get through it.

Save something, a memory, a thought, a reflection.

I return in my thoughts to those I met then.

What has become of them?

What happened to Artur?

What about the strong, courageous Farrusco?

In the wars against South Africans,

we lost many of our best children.

But justice was done. We had to be there.

We couldn't let them kill us without defending ourselves.

It was worth it. I'm an accomplished person.

I put a stone in the building of this nation called Angola.

We won the battle that led our country to independence.

But on the way, all my ideals were destroyed.

I'm the big loser. Where is the egalitarian society?

Where are my brothers without hunger?

And socialism?

And revolution?

You must save something if you can.

Because people disappear without a trace,

completely and irretrievably.

First from the world

and then from our memory.

I will write.

They will never be forgotten.

They will leave a trace.

They will remain.

I was here.

This is how I looked.

This is the face I had when I was alive.

Look at me for a moment before you turn to something else.

OCR'd, corrected and foreign parts added by ♦ ♦ NILNUWAN ♦ ♦