IFFR x LV: 50 years independence Cabo Verde
Marking 50 years since Cabo Verde emerged from colonial rule, LantarenVenster and IFFR join forces for an evening of film programming and conversation on Sunday 29 June. Curated by IFFR 2025 RTM curator Janilda Bartolomeu.
When the Portuguese regime eventually left Cabo Verde in 1975, it uprooted many of the islands’ infrastructures, including those connected to the film industry. As a result, filmmaking infrastructure has remained limited the past 50 years, with only two islands having access to a cinema. Yet through the continued passion and commitment of the Cape Verdeans, a cinema culture is being rebuilt.
This programme focuses on the female filmmakers building the cinematic canon of Cape Verdean cinema – shining a light on the pride, joy and imaginaries of the past and present, and highlighting the special connection between Cabo Verde and Rotterdam, whose Cape Verdean diaspora played a crucial role in Cabo Verde’s decolonisation.
The evening begins with the short documentary Cap-Vert, un carnaval dans le Sahel (1979) by Sarah Maldoror, widely considered the first Black female filmmaker in Africa. The film – one of the first depictions of Cape Verdeans in the wake of independence – is followed by the Dutch première of Denise Fernandes’s Hanami. Hanami earned Fernandes the Best Emerging Director Award at the Locarno Film Festival in 2024, and is a genuine, cinematic testament to the imaginaries of both today’s Cape Verdean filmmakers and the younger generations across the diaspora.
About the films
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Hanami (Denise Fernandes, 2024)
On a remote volcanic island from which everyone wants to leave, Nana learns to stay. Her mother Nia, who suffers from a mysterious illness, left shortly after her birth. When Nana comes down with a high fever, she is sent to the foot of a volcano for treatment. There, she encounters a world suspended between dreams and reality. Years later, when Nana is a teenager, Nia returns.
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Cap-Vert, un carnaval dans le Sahel (Sarah Maldoror, 1979)
Cap-Vert, un carnaval dans le Sahel is part of the “Carnaval-trilogy”, which was supported by the archipelago’s first, and revolutionary, PAIGC government. The film focuses on the disruptive significance carnaval has for the Cape Verdean people, as a means of resistance against the imposed values of colonialism and racism. Through its textural and colourful depictions of the festival’s preparations, the film gives us a glimpse into the newly independent Cape Verdean people’s joy, inventiveness and resistance.
The films are presented in their original language, with English subtitles. The introduction and Q&A are in English.
Tickets are €12.50 and can be purchased through the LantarenVenster website.
Information about this event
- Date:
- June 29, 2025
- Time:
- 16:00
- Location:
- LantarenVenster, Otto Reuchlinweg 996, 3072 MD Rotterdam