It’s a few years since Buraka Som Sistema brought Kuduro’s notorious ‘batida’ to a global audience. As new documentary I Love Kuduro delves into the history, legacy and vitality of the movement, director Mário Patrocinio discusses his passion for the Angolan dance movement. 

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Kuduro has a very special way of taking things from the West—electronic music, world music—and reinventing them. I was first introduced to Kuduro in Lisbon and the African nights, where there was always a moment where everything stopped and everyone started to dance and shake to these amazingly frenetic beats. I always wondered where it came from. 

When the war was over, I had the chance to go to Angola and it was important for me to be there at that time to understand why Kuduro is such an energy. Africa is the mother of the world and Angolans have such an imagination: they make Kuduro happen with very little, and that’s something unique. We wanted to show the roots of Kuduro, the real roots that inspire musicians like Buraka Sound System. What I didn’t know before is that it literally moves so many people.