SPECIAL SCREENING: HANAMI (2024) with director Denise Fernandes!

On an isolated volcanic island that everyone wants to leave, Nana learns to stay. Her mother Nia emigrated shortly after her birth and Nana grows up in her father's family. When she is taken ill with a high fever, she is sent to the foot of a volcano for treatment, where she discovers a world suspended between dreams and reality. Years later, as a teenager deeply rooted in her homeland, Nia returns to face the consequences of her long exile.

The world premiere of Denise Fernandes' first feature film at the Locarno Film Festival won two prestigious prizes.

‘Hanami’, which in Japanese means celebrating the ephemeral beauty of flowers, takes a critical look at a society in perpetual migration and takes the audience on a journey of discovery of a country that is still little known in our latitudes. Produced by Geneva-based Alina Film, the story is told from the point of view of a little girl left behind in Cape Verde who, as she grows up, develops an intimate relationship with nature and the people of her island.