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Mortu Nega

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Wikipedia article




'Mortu Nega' (English: 'Death Denied' or 'Those Whom Death Refused') is a 1988 historic film by Flora Gomes, a director from Guinea-Bissau. 'Mortu Nega' was Gomes' first feature-length film. This is the first docufiction, more precisely the first ethnofiction, from his country that shows, in an expressive and touching way, the experiences of the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence. This film blends contemporary history with mythology, in this case African mythology. 'Mortu Nega' was the first film produced in independent Guinea-Bissau. Its world premiere was at the Venice Film Festival on August 29, 1988.

Synopsis



1973: Diminga accompanies a group of camouflaged soldiers who travel down a path, in the middle of the shrubland, carrying supplies to a war front near Conakry, where Diminga's husband Sako is fighting. The country is ruined and there is death everywhere, but hope is what keeps life worth living. In the encampment where she meets Sako, Diminga does not have much time to enjoy his company. The rebels are gaining ground and they are certain that they will command victory.

197477: The end of the war, but not truly an end. There is a great drought across the country and life continues to be difficult. It is true that where Diminga lives, in between the crying, there are great celebrations for the end of the war. But the drought continues, Diminga has a sick husband and other fighting (mostly over rations) starts.

The film, in the words of its director, is an African parable. The colonies won their independence and eliminated Portuguese colonialism. A question that arises is about Africa's future. As Flora Gomes suggests, Africa cannot be itself without its beliefs, its myths, its philosophy, and its culture.

Interpretation



The year the film premiered, 1988 "not only marks the 25th anniversary of the independence of Guinea-Bissau and the assassination of its leader Amlcar Cabral, it is also the year in which the country was practically annihilated by a brutal civil war (Teresa Ribeiro, a journalist for Voice of America). The film is an elegy, not for the victims of the war of liberation, but for its survivors."

'Mortu Nega' has become a cult film seen as having no ideologies or morals. It is a love story: nervous, carnal, sensitive (Ren Marx, Pariscope, March 14, 1990).

Cast



* Bia Gomes as Diminga

* Tunu Eugenio Almada as Sako

* Mamadu Uri Balde as Sanabaio

* M'Make Nhasse as Lebeth

* Sinho Pedro DaSilva as Estin

* Homma Nalete as Mandembo

* Caio Leucadio Almeida as Onkono

* Brinsam as Irene Lopes

* Abi Cassama as Nurse

* Ernesto Moreira as Doctor

* Flora Gomes as Head of Sector

Technical information



* Script Flora Gomes, Manuel Rambault Barcellos, and David Lang

* Production National Film Institute of Guinea-Bissau

* Producers Ceclia Fonseca, Odette Rosa, Nina Neves Aime and Jacques Zajdermann

* Photography Dominique Gentil

* Editing Christiane Lack

* Format 35 mm film

* Genre historical docufiction, ethnofiction

* Duration 92 minutes

* Distribution California Newsreel

Festivals and Shows



* 1988 Venice Film Festival, August 29 (2 Honorable Mentions)

* 1989 Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO), March

* 1989 Cannes Film Festival, May 16

* 1989 Belgian Cinedecouvertes, July

* 1989 London Film Festival November 1620

* 1990 Seattle International Film Festival May 28

* 1990 Journes Cinmatographiques de Carthage (French), Tunis, October November (bronze Tanit award)

* 1997 [http://news.pcc.edu/1998/01/ninth-annual-cascade-festival-of-african-films/ 9th Annual Cascade Festival of African Films], February 20

* 2000 New York Film Center, June 20

* 2000 African Film Festival, November 26

* 2003 Flora Gomes Retrospective and African Film Festival at Brown University

See also



* Docufiction

* List of docufiction films

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* Cinema of Portugal

* African Cinema

References




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