1907. Afonso starts life anew on a tropical island off the African coast, as a plantation physician. He is tasked with treating servants “infected” by Banzo, a profound homesickness fatal to many slaves who succumb to starvation or take their own lives. To prevent spreading, the group is sent to a secluded hill encircled by forest. Afonso tries to heal them, but understanding their spirits is a challenge stronger than any medical intervention.
The year is 1907 and Afonso works as a doctor on a plantation on a tropical African island. It aims to cure the Banzo, this is the nostalgia of slaves. How to understand the invisible? How can we understand the suffering of those denied mourning? Margarida Cardoso invites us to dive into a story written with lucidity and generosity. The distance that is established between the filmmaker and the characters (as well as the distance that is established between everyone in the film) will be one of the keys to approaching this painful story. – Miquel Escudero Diéguez
Margarida started directing in 1995, exploring subjects that cross her personal history experiences and prominent post-colonial issues in recent Portuguese history, such as the Portuguese revolution and colonial war in Africa. Her previous work includes features “Yvone Kane” (Tallinn Black Nights 2015), “The Murmuring Coast” (Venice 2004, IFFR 2005), documentary “Kuxa Kanema – The Birth of Cinema” (FIDMarseille, Cinéma du Réel, Visions du Réel 2003) and the short “Two Dragons” (Locarno 1999).