Best quote from Quilombo (1984)

"Unwilling people lose their imagination.
People without imagination are no use at all.
Even in war."

-Quilombo

Based on the true story of the "Quilombo dos Palmares" (The Black Nation of Palm Trees), the independent republic that was established in Brazil during the 17th century by Africans who had escaped from slavery.

The Quilombo dos Palmares accommodated more than 20,000 Africans and native Brazilian Indians who had fled from enslavement by the Portuguese and Dutch in the northeastern region of Brazil. Occupying a large area between Pernambuco and Alagoas, Palmares had an organized government system headed by a warrior king.

In Palmares, the escaped Africans strove to maintain their cultural roots and traditions. Their resilience enabled them to resist attacks by the colonial authorities for around one hundred years, from 1590, when the first news of the uprisings came out, to the end of the 1600's, when Palmares was destroyed.

"Quilombo" centers around the two most famous warrior kings of Palmares -Ganga Zumbi and his successor, Zumbi.

Directed by Carlos Diegues