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In popular culture

In John Milius 's 1984 film Red Dawn, Bella, one of the Cuban officers who takes part in a joint Cuban-Soviet invasion of the United States, is said to have fought in the conflicts in Angola, El Salvador, and Nicaragua.

Jack Abramoff wrote and co-produced the film Red Scorpion with his brother Robert in 1989. In the film, Dolph Lundgren plays Nikolai, a Soviet agent sent to assassinate an African revolutionary in a fictional country modeled on Angola. The South African government financed the film through the International Freedom Foundation, a front-group chaired by Abramoff, as part of its efforts to undermine international sympathy for the African National Congress. While working in Hollywood, Abramoff was convicted for fraud and other offenses that he had committed during his concurrent career as a lobbyist. Lundgren also starred in the 1998 film Sweepers as a demolitions expert clearing minefields in Angola.

The war provides a more comedic background story in the South African comedy The Gods Must Be Crazy 2 as a Cuban and an Angolan soldier repeatedly try to take each other prisoner, but ultimately part on (more or less) amicable terms.

The Cuban classic film Caravana was produced on the fictionalized exploits of a Cuban caravan (a military mechanized column) sent to reinforce an isolated Cuban position against an impeding UNITA attack. On the way they need to clear mines and repel continued attacks of Cobra, a special operations section of UNITA troops indirectly monitored by CIA handlers. The film received substantial support from Cuban Armed Forces, included many famous Cuban actors of the time and became a classic of Cuban Cinema.

Three additional Cuban films were produced in a loose trilogy, each focused in one significant battle of the war: Kangamba, Sumbe and Cuito Cuanavale.

The 2004 film The Hero, produced by Fernando Vendrell and directed by Zézé Gamboa, depicts the life of average Angolans in the aftermath of the civil war. The film follows the lives of three individuals: Vitório, a war veteran crippled by a landmine who returns to Luanda; Manu, a young boy searching for his soldier father; and Joana, a teacher who mentors the boy and begins a love affair with Vitório. The Hero won the 2005 Sundance World Dramatic Cinema Jury Grand Prize. A joint Angolan, Portuguese, and French production, The Hero was filmed entirely in Angola.

The Swedish–German 2010 documentary film My Heart of Darkness, about the Angolan Civil War was filmed in 2007.

The Angolan Civil War is featured in the 2012 video game Call of Duty: Black Ops II, in which the player (Alex Mason) assists Jonas Savimbi in a battle against MPLA forces.

In the video game Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, the main character known as " Venom Snake " ventures into the Angola — Zaire border region during the Angolan Civil War in order to track down the men responsible for the destruction of his private military organization.

The conflict is featured in first three episodes of the 2018 German television series Deutschland 86.

In 2018 Another day of life, a animated movie based on Ryszard Kapuściński autobiographical book. It is a co-production between Poland, Spain, Belgium, Germany and Hungary.