Like two previous feature films – “O Film do Mundo” (Locarno, 2019) and “After the Night” (Cannes, 2013) – this one, which centers on the heroine Rosinha, played by singer Eliana Rosa, was shot at the Reboleira cash. Proposal oscillates between musical comedy on the sounds of Cape Verde and documentaries.
We follow the journey of this 20-year-old young woman, who arrived from Cape Verde, who has to start from scratch, without anyone to support her, said Nuha Gomez, a neighborhood resident who became an actress. to the press. She plays Rosinha’s boss.
“I would like to say in the preamble that this film is more off-screen than the previous films, which gives a voice to women. Because until now I have made films for boys,” noted the 38-year-old director, Swiss and Portuguese nationality.
“My ambition is to show several ways of being a woman and in particular this young woman who finds her strength and power in music, a way to take her revenge. Eliana Rosa’s contribution is enormous not only because she carries and embodies the film, but also because it is her voice that we hear when she sings and because she composed most of the songs.
Music and creativity are two ways to survive in immigrant quarters, suggests director of photography, Lausanne-based Patrick Tresch.
If the movie wants to be light, it has immigration as a backdrop. Facing the “vile” reality of those who have not succeeded and must go, Basil da Cunha, who left Lausanne, said, “We have the desire to make myths. Every culture, every society, every society needs cinema and its manufacture.” To settle in the Reboleira region about fifteen years ago.
Basil da Cunha used to work with Cape Verdeans as well as with non-professional actors. “He takes bits of life from our stories to make his movie,” explains the film’s lead actress, Eliana Rosa.
“Thanks to the entire Rebolera community, we were able to make this film: she was the one who brought the sets, the stories and the music,” continues Patrick Tresh. And Basil da Cunha makes this population present in the eyes of the rest of the world.
In Portugal and Lisbon, the highlighting of this area, a place of police raids and often headlines, has sparked vigorous debate.
Movie after movie, the director says he will be the last in this neighborhood to disappear. “But we’ll do another one this summer,” he smiles. It’s not the end with the people I photograph with: we are forever linked. Because he built a team around himself, of the locals who play in his films.
It’s hard not to stick to Basil da Cunha’s approach. However, despite the ambition and generosity of subject matter as well as subtlety of tone and emotion in many scenes, the construction of this film has something “floating, centered around one character. The director seems to be cut off from anything real”. The narrative construction is to observe Rosinha only,” remarked a film specialist as he left the show.
