Angola Cinema

Angola Cinema honors the fantastic, unique and unknown architecture of movie theaters in Angola, built in the decades before the end of Portuguese colonial rule in 1975. Initially designed as traditional closed spaces, later in the 1960s open air cinemas with terrace bars became the order of the day, so much better adapted as they were to the tropical climate. The arrival of these cinemas brought elegance to the business of going to the movies. But it is not only this exceptional architecture which impresses us and mirrors the experimental spirit of its ambitious and visionary builders. Visiting the cinema was a communal act—it was a place where young met old, where people fell in love and where liberation from colonialism was a feasible option. Examining the architectural history of these buildings, this book is also a document of urban organization in the 20th century, as well as the changing mentalities of a society living with the possibility of its foreseen independence. What has changed since then, and what is the future of these urban cathedrals? Angola Cinema poses such questions in a book that both preserves these architectonic treasures and reflects on their cultural, social and affective heritage.