Angola - Dreams and Reality

After being waged with varying degrees of intensity since 1975, the civil war in Angola ended ten years ago when the African country won liberation from Portuguese colonial rule. Tomáš Hodan’s documentary captures what happens when the “white man” returns, this time to help the local population stand on its own. The mission of Vladimír Lima of People in Need and Martin Lošťák from the Czech Agricultural University involves helping Angolan students get qualifications and participate in the development of their country. However, offering education rather than material assistance in Angola, where people are used to receiving regular humanitarian aid, is far from easy. Hodan’s film reveals the nuances of everyday life when differing mentalities and cultural approaches clash. Compared to other films documenting People in Need’s work over two decades, a shift in the focus of aid work is apparent in Angola – Dreams and Reality. In addition to humanitarian aid, knowledge and experience – which, in a post-conflict state, are of greater value for development than bags of rice – are now being made available to locals.