WOMEN, COMING OF AGE, FAMILY, SELF-DISCORVERY, IDENTITY, CULTURE
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.
Locarno Film Festival 2024 | Winner: Best Emerging Director Award, Special Mention – First Feature Awards
Göteborg Film Festival 2025 | Winner: The Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award 2025
Vancouver International Film Festival 2024 | Winner: Special Mention – Vanguard Award
Chicago International Film Festival 2024 | Winner: Roger Ebert Award (New Directors Competition) 2024
BFI London Film Festival 2024
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.
