BB17-071 — SECRET AFRICA
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YEAR: 1969
ORIGINAL TITLE: Africa Segreta
FILM STUDIO / PRODUCTION: Sahara Film
AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTION: Columbia Pictures — credited prominently on this Australian poster
TAGLINE: “Africa Uncivilized! Africa Unsurpassed!” / “Never before has the screen shown such astounding and authentic primitive ceremonies!”
DIRECTORS: Alfredo Castiglioni, Angelo Castiglioni and Guido Guerrasio
NARRATOR: Riccardo Cucciolla
MUSIC: Angelo Francesco Lavagnino
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Alfredo Castiglioni, Angelo Castiglioni and Oreste Pellini
GENRE: Documentary / Mondo / Exploitation
POSTER PRINTER: M.A.P.S. Litho Pty. Ltd.
FORMAT: Australian Daybill

Secret Africa, originally released in Italy as Africa Segreta, is a 1969 documentary by brothers Alfredo and Angelo Castiglioni with Guido Guerrasio. Produced by Sahara Film, it documents ceremonies, customs and rituals encountered during extensive filming in Africa. Contemporary records classify it as a documentary, while it has subsequently become associated with the Italian Mondo film movement because of its emphasis on confronting and sensational material.

POSTER DESIGN FEATURES: A particularly striking Australian exploitation Daybill using a vivid red, yellow, black and olive-green palette. A map of Africa forms the centrepiece, surrounded by photographic scenes and provocative promotional captions. The huge red upper field carries “AFRICA UNCIVILIZED! AFRICA UNSURPASSED!”, while the lower section prominently warns “SUITABLE ONLY FOR ADULTS.” The design deliberately sells the film through shock and spectacle, making it an excellent example of late-1960s Australian Mondo/exploitation advertising.

COLLECTOR'S NOTE: Secret Africa sits firmly within the early wave of Italian Mondo documentaries that followed the international success of Mondo Cane. It was the first of a series of Africa-focused Mondo films made by brothers Alfredo and Angelo Castiglioni, giving the title particular interest to collectors of exploitation and documentary cinema. A newly published 2026 scholarly study of Africa Segreta describes the film as occupying the boundary between ethnographic documentary and Mondo cinema, demonstrating that the film continues to attract academic attention more than 50 years after its release.