MoreThan Films has acquired international sales rights to Denise Fernandez's “Hanami,” which will premiere next Wednesday in the Concorso Cineasti del Presente section of the Locarno Film Festival.
Set on a remote volcanic island in Cape Verde where most people are looking for ways to escape, the film tells the story of Nana. Suffering from a strange illness, the young girl falls ill with a fever and must travel to the foot of a volcano for treatment. There, she finds a world that blurs the lines between dreams and reality. Years later, when Nana is a teenager, her mother reappears in her life.
Born in Lisbon to Cape Verdean parents and raised in Switzerland, Fernandes has been a director for over a decade, making her breakthrough with 2020’s “Nha Mila,” which screened in competition at festivals such as Locarno and Uppsala and was nominated for Best Short Film at the Sofia Portuguese Film Academy Awards.
“Growing up in Europe, I noticed that Cape Verde was often left off world maps because of its small size,” Fernandes said of Hanami. “As a way of explaining this, I made Cape Verde and its people the main subject of my first feature film.”
Fernandes co-wrote the film with acclaimed Portuguese director Telmo Choro, whose 2022 film India screened at festivals including Thessaloniki and São Paulo and was nominated for a Portuguese Golden Globe.
“Hanami” is produced by Alina Film and O Som ea Fúria, in association with Ventura Film and RSI Radiotelevisione Svizzera.
Break the news to diverse“Hanami is an incredibly beautiful film,” added MoreThan Managing Partner, Quiralt Ponce Serra. “In her debut feature, Denise Fernandes demonstrates and enhances her artistic vision by presenting a story set in Cape Verde where, through her characters rooted in the region and her stunning landscapes, she speaks of belonging, departure, and return, and how the land and soil surrounding the protagonist acts as a mother figure by providing her with protection and safe haven.”
