HANAMI
Directed by Denise Fernandes
Switzerland, Portugal, Cape Verde | 2024 | 96' |
in Capeverdian creole, English, Japanese, French
Produced by: Alina Film, O Som e a Fúria
On a remote volcanic island – a place everyone wants to leave – Nana has learned to stay.
Her mother Nia, who suffers from a mysterious illness, left soon 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.
Director
Festivals & Awards
2024
Locarno Film Festival 2024 - Cineasti del Presente (Switzerland) - Best Emerging Director Award, First Feature Awards – Special Mention
Vancouver International Film Festival 2024 (Canada) - Vanguard - Special Mention
BFI London Film Festival 2024 (UK) - First Feature Competition
Film Fest Gent - Official Selection - in competition (Belgium)
Chicago International Film Festival (USA) - New Directors Competition- Roger Ebert Award
Französischen Filmtage Tübingen | Stuttgart (Germany) - Internationaler Wettbewerb (Germany) - Best Film
Pianeta Mare Film Festival (Italy) - Film in concorso Lungometraggi
AFI Fest (USA) - Discovery
Mostra São Paulo (Brazil) - New Directors - Jury Prize - Best Feature Film and Brada Prize - Best Art Direction
Sevilla Film Festival (Spain) - Competición Rampa
Istanbul Museum of Modern Art (Turkey)
Ljubljana International Film Festival (Slovenia) - Panorama
Festival des 3 Continents (France) - International Competition - Best film - Montgolfière d’or
S16 Film Festival - Closing Film (Nigeria)
Red Sea Film Festival (Saudi Arabia) - In Competition
Carthage Film Festival (Tunisia) - In Competition - Prix 1ère œuvre Tahar Cheria long-métrage de fiction TV5 Monde
2025
Palm Springs International Film Festival (USA) - New Voices New Visions
Solothurner Filmtage (Switzerland) - Panorama Langfilm
Göteborg Film Festival (Sweden) - Ingmar Bergman Competition - Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award
Kitale Film Week (Kenya) - Official Selection
FESPACO (Burkina Faso) - Feature Film Competition - Best Cinematography
Festival Cine Global (Santo Domingo)
Africa Alive Festival - DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum (Germany)
Fondazione Prada (Italy)
Festival Music & Cinema Marseille (France)
Luxembourg City Film Festival (Luxembourg) - Official Competition
Vilnius International Film Festival (Lithuania) - Smart 7
Festival Reflets du Cinema ibérique et latino américain (France)
Contrechamps Film Festival (Belgium)
New African Film Festival (USA) - AFI Silver
Caligari Autores (Argentina)
Bolzano Film Festival (Italy) - Competition
FICCI Cartagena de Indias (Colombia) - Competición Internacional
Cinemateca Bogotá (Colombia)
Afrika Filmfestival Leuven (Belgium)
"L.A. Rebellion: Then and Now" Retrospective at Lincoln Center (USA)
IndieLisboa (Portugal) - National Competition / Smart 7 - Max Award for Best Portuguese Feature Film
Reykjavik FF (Iceland) - Smart 7
New York African Film Festival (USA) - NYAFF at BAM
Seattle International Film Festival (USA) - Ibero-American Cinema
Cinémas et Cultures d’Afrique (France)
Ifriqiya Cinema (UK)
Denise Fernandes
Denise Fernandes (1990) was born in Lisbon to Cape Verdean parents and grew up in Switzerland. Her latest short film, «Nha Mila» (2020), premiered at the Locarno Film Festival, in the Pardi di Domani section. Nha Mila was a European Film Awards candidate and has been screened at over 40 international film festivals. It was nominated as Best National Short Film at the Sophia Awards 2021 and invited by MoMa and Lincoln Center in New York for the New Directors/New Film Festival. Hanami, filmed in Cape Verde, is her feature directorial debut.
Distributors:
Draken Film (Sweden)
Imovision (Brazil)
Desforra Apache (Portugal)
Cineworx (Switzerland)
