BlackStar Film Festival

Press & Industry: Chrononaut Shorts

Available in 23d 15h 54m 24s
Available August 3, 2026 12:00 PM UTC
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Historicist time travel.


Thank you to our screening partner: 1838 Black Metropolis.

Suneil Sanzgiri’s work has been shaped by an ongoing investigation into the histories of anti-imperialist and anti-colonial struggle in the Global South — rooted in his own family genealogy of resistance in Goa under Portuguese occupation. Here, he writes an impossible letter to Sita Valles, an Angolan doctor of Goan descent who, in the aftermath of April 25, left Lisbon to join the MPLA, the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola. A film that unfolds through shifting cinematic techniques and anchors itself in a mutable aesthetic in an attempt to grapple with what struggle truly means.


How can we unearth the solidarities that time and colonialism sought to erase? The director traces a latent mapping of anti-colonial movements uniting Asia and Africa under the former Portuguese yoke. Following the trail of revolutionary Sita Valles — born in Goa and killed in Angola — the director reveals deep connections between struggles that, though seemingly disconnected, echo on the same frequency of resistance. Through an immersive visual approach, where 16-mm film is literally buried and retrieved from the earth, the film operates as both an archaeological and narrative excavation. Sanzgiri bypasses what seems invisible or impossible to track, reconnecting the power of Afro-Asian solidarities.

  • Year
    2025
  • Runtime
    39 minutes
  • Language
    English, Portuguese
  • Country
    United States, Angola, India
  • Premiere
    Philadelphia
  • Genre
    Experimental
  • Content Warning
    Frenetic scenes and fast-moving images with some light flashes throughout the film but mostly at the very start
  • Director
    Suneil Sanzgiri
  • Screenwriter
    Suneil Sanzgiri
  • Producer
    Suneil Sanzgiri
  • Cast
    Ana Naomi de Sousa, Edgar Valles, Justino Pinto de Andrade, Dr. Inocência Mata, Dr. Cristina Pinto, Yasmina Price
  • Cinematographer
    Suneil Sanzgiri, Bernardo Infante, Krish Makhija, Doug Durant
  • Editor
    Suneil Sanzgiri
  • Animator
    Sumedh Sawant & Adithya lyengar
  • Composer
    Amirtha Kidambi in collaboration with Lester St. Louis, Matt Nelson, Alfredo Colón, Jason Nazary; Additional Music: Haamid Rahim & Sarah Zarina Hakani, Booker Stardrum
  • Sound Design
    Suneil Sanzgiri
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