BUALA

On Hanami by Denise Fernandes (and on Vóvó Nica’s burnt papaya tree)

This is one of those rare films that doesn’t penetrate your soul through the eyes but rather seeps in through your skin. It lingers in the inherited silences, it speaks through whispered gestures, it resurfaces in the anguished absences in our own lived experience. With the languid rhythm of a dry wind ascending the steep slope of a volcano to reach its plateau at sunset, and gently cool it for the night, this masterful feature doesn’t attempt to explain feelings. Instead, it gently offers a sense of belonging and, for us in the Capeverdean diaspora, a tableau of memory.

Afroscreen

08.08.2025 | by P.J. Marcellino