Following Nigeria's independence in 1960, the British left the country but multinationals began to proliferate thought the land, specially after the discovery of the region's largest oil well. Agriculture, which had previously given the country a degree of economic equilibrium, was hurt by the agreement between Nigeria's new leaders and foreign investors, which resulted in the expansion of the oil fiends and the destruction of agricultural land. The documentary reflects this situation through the musician and political activist Fela Kuti and his son Fema Kuti. Music is depicted as the awakening of a conscience, as a celebration of life and African roots, and as an indictment of a government that acts as a franchise of western multinationals.

Part indictment, part redemption tale, the film offers startling insight into the role of the Black Panther Party in a social revolution, and the New York Police Department and the FBI's devious targeting of one of the organization's most fervent leaders -Dhoruba Bin Wahad (born Richard Moore). Emerging from the Bronx ghettos and a life of petty crime, Dhoruba dived headfirst into the Black Power movement, serving breakfast to school children with one hand while wielding a gun with the other.

Parallel testimonies of Youssoupha, a rap artist and Thomas. Evocation of rap as an object of censorship, often criminalised by successive governments, and as a weapon of political struggle, far removed from the clichés of commercial rap.

For decades, Nigerian icon Fela Kuti revolutionized “afro-beat”, a unique blend of driving funk and traditional African music that carried his message of liberation and dignity in the face of corruption. After Fela's death in 1997, his son Femi Kuti took over the afrobeat throne, and in 2000, Femi opened the New Africa Shrine in Lagos. A community center during the day and venue for ecstatic concerts at night, the Shrine is Femi's home... “Can't Buy Me”, Femi intones while the horns propel the music forward, dancers undulate, and the crowd finds release from the troubled state of the country in the joyous celebration...

All contemporary forms of black music (from funk to electronic) owe something to the irrisistible groove of which Fela was the creator: Afrobeat. For most of his career he fought against political corruption in his homeland, Nigeria, and was much loved by his people who affectionately called him their “Black President”... At the height of his popularity in a chaotic Nigeria, Fela wanted to stand for president. The army responded by attacking and ransacking his community, raping his wives and throwing his mother from a window. Fela transmits to the camera his thoughts on politics, panafricanism, music and religion. The film includes previously unpublished versions of ITT, Army Arrangement, Power Show and Authority Stealing.

Amandla! is an impassioned chronicle of the role of music as a mean of protest and survival through more than 40 years of struggle against racial oppression. “The apartheid government took everything away from people, but it couldn't stop them from singing”, says director Lee Hirsch. In the songs there could even be found a rare ability of South Africa's people to find humour and creativity in impossible conditions, in abject poverty - and in battle.