Le Portugal d’Outre-mer dans le monde d’aujourd’hui / Overseas Portugal in the World Today

by Jean Leduc

(Documentary, Portugal, 1971, 50', C, OV)

Le Portugal d’Outre-mer dans le monde d’aujourd’hui

This film, which was to be directed by Pascal-Angot, is characteristic of the communication war in these times of violent military conflicts. It presents a panorama of the benefits of the singular Portuguese presence, which harmoniously rubs shoulders with peoples and cultures: Macao, its cathedral, junks and casinos; the dances of the Timorese; Cape Verde and its morna; the Tchiloli Theatre of São Tomé; the riches of Angola and the development of Mozambique. And several sequences expose at length the Portuguese military power, especially in Guinea-Bissau and Angola – while a part of these countries is actually under control of the separatists. The film is punctuated by the words of Prime Minister Marcelo Caetano, who replaced Salazar in 1968: “These terrorist movements did not appear spontaneously, they originate in a neighbouring territory, and they would have disappeared if the help of the neighbouring powers had stopped. The people of our territories are fighting them.”


Jean Leduc
Jean Leduc

Jean Leduc (1922-1996), a French filmmaker, first directed spy novels in the colonized East: Transit à Saïgon (1963) and Via Macao (1966) with Roger Hanin and Françoise Prévost, filmed in Portugal and Macao and co-produced by Felipe de Solms. Later he worked in Angola, shooting several documentaries and a fiction, Captain Singrid, (1968), the African adventures of a blonde Mata Hari. He is associated with the project of the French Jean-Noël Pascal-Angot, funded by the Salazar government, to produce propaganda films on the positive features of colonization. Some films, addressed to foreign audiences, are aimed at supporting Portuguese diplomacy, which is generally criticized, including at the UN, during the era of decolonization.

Other movies: Season France-Portugal 2022

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