Africa Addio is an Italian documentary film made in 1966 about the end of the colonial era in Africa. The film was released under the names “Africa Blood and Guts” in the USA (which was only half of the entire film) and “Farewell Africa” in the UK.

The movie documents some of the disruptions caused by decolonization, such as poaching in former animal preserves and bloody revolutions, including the Zanzibar revolution which resulted in the massacre of approximately 5000 Arabs in 1964. In most of its edited incarnations, the movie leaves out mention of similar atrocities that were committed under colonial powers.

While the film claims to dispassionately show reality, it has been criticized as biased by many viewers over the years (perhaps most notably Roger Ebert). The film was shot over a period of three years, by Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi, two Italian filmmakers who had gained fame a few years earlier (with co-director Paolo Cavara) as the directors of Mondo Cane in 1962.

This film launched the so-called Mondo film genre, a cycle of documentaries or “shockumentaries” which often featured sensational topcis, of which “Africa Addio” is arguably a part (it is included in the “Mondo Cane Collection” currently being distributed by Blue Underground). (Excerpt from Wikipedia)

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