Hanami

Directed by Denise Fernandes
Cape Verde
2024
96 mins

Synopsis

Dreams, imagination and sobering realities meld in this absolutely magical debut, in which a young girl must decide whether to leave her volcanic island home. Locarno 2024.

The island of Fogo, Cape Verde is singular in its beauty. Drylands give way to black-sand beaches, while villagers gather in intimately cluttered homes. Director Denise Fernandes’s attention to lyrical detail highlights the profound love that young Nana (Dailma Mendes as a child, Sanaya Andrade as a teen) has for her home. But for all its visual poetry, many residents seek to escape the island’s hard living. When her mother returns after decades away, Nana is faced with an impossible decision. Seamlessly moving between realism and the surreal – including a journey to a reality-warping volcano – Fernandes entwines myth and hard truths to tell a unique coming-of-age tale about what it means to belong to a place.

Limited seats are available for patrons requiring access for wheelchairs, low vision and hearing loop. Please contact our ticketing team directly on 1300 733 733 or tickets@sff.org.au to complete your booking.

The beautiful story and stunning visuals [create] a sublimely immersive experience. Like holding a conch shell close to one’s ear, the audience can listen closely to the (almost omnipresent) waves of the ocean and focus on the narrative that unfolds.
Teresa Vieira, Cineuropa

Tickets

Sat 7 June 2025, 4:15pm
Palace Central Cinemas - Cinema 1
WheelchairAssisted Listening
Sun 8 June 2025, 4:15pm
Dendy Newtown - Cinema 3
WheelchairAssisted Listening
  • Program Strand
  • Year
    2024
  • Classification
    Unclassified 15+
  • Country
    Switzerland, Cape Verde, Portugal
  • Language
    In Cape Verdean Creole, English, Japanese and French with English subtitles
  • Director
    Denise Fernandes
  • Producer
    Luís Urbano, Eugenia Mumenthaler, Sandro Aguilar, David Epiney
  • Cast
    Sanaya Andrade, Daílma Mendes, Alice Da Luz
  • Screenwriter
    Denise Fernandes, Telmo Churro
  • Cinematographer
    Alana Mejía González
  • Editor
    Selin Dettwiler
  • Genre
  • Premiere
    Australian Premiere
  • Company Credits
    World Sales: MoreThanFilms
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Sydney Film Festival acknowledges Australia’s First Nations People as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land, and pay respect to the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, upon whose Country SFF is based.

We honour the storytelling and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia.

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