By Abdi Ali
Published November 12, 2017
A festival that styles itself as a ‘celebration of Mozambican literature and cinema’ shall be held in four locations on the edges of the rainforest and on the shores of the Indian Ocean in northern Mozambique.
Organisers of the 4th Festival Fim do Caminho say the event that shall be held in Nampula (November 17-18), Lichinga (November 19-20), Mossuril (November 24-27) and Ilha de Moçambique (November 25-27) shall not only hold “writing classes with master authors on the edges of the rainforest in Lichinga or films and filmmakers on the shores of the Indian Ocean) but that this is “the most ambitious programme the festival has ever assembled.”
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Among the highlights of Festival Fim do Caminho 2017 is the screening of COMBIO DE SAL E ACUCAR (Train of Salt and Sugar), Mozambique’s first ever contender for the Academy Awards, in the presence of director Licinio Azevedo on Mozambique Island; Book talks in Nampula and Lichinga with Paulina Chiziane, Lucilio Manjate and Eduardo Quive, Masterclass film and photography workshops, Tailor-made short film programmes for children and adults by Berlin-based short film festivals Interfilm and KUKI, and live music and drumming .
While Azevedo’s earlier film, GRANDE BAZAR that revolves around the (mis)adventures of a child on the streets of Maputo will open the festival in Mossuril, José Craveirinha Prize winner, Paulina Chiziane, will discuss her latest work, The Song of the Slaves, in Nampula and Lichinga.
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Chiziane, festival co-director Alexander Macbeth says, “will be joined by the winner of the 2017 Eduardo Costley-White Award, Lucilio Manjate. Eduardo Quive, president of the Kuphaluxa literary movement, will complete the literary lineup.”
Saying the programme includes book launches and readings, a discussion on writing in Mozambique, a panel on crime fiction and workshops in schools, festival-co-director Anna di Gioia says “Filmmaker Orlando Mabasso Junior will lead a workshop with nine Nampula-based cinema enthusiasts. The rules are simple: Produce a film of less than 144 seconds in less than 144 hours!”
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Described as “the most comprehensive overview of the local industry the festival has ever presented”, Festival Fim do Caminho’s 2017 cinema programme includes more than 20 Mozambican classics, contemporary features, documentaries and student productions.
Ouri Pota Chapata Pacamutondo, a journalist with Radio Mozambique, will cover the festival with a group of local secondary school students as part of the programme’s training components.
