Cape Verde / 1995 / 110mins / Drama / Portuguese

Set against the lush beauty of Cape Verde's landscape, this film explores the evolution of the traditional colonial class structure. In response to a changing society, the aristocracy finds it must cede some of its power to a newly emergent mulatto merchant class. In this process, they are shaping a hybrid national identity that must synthesize the old and the new as well as elements of both African and Portuguese cultures.

Leao Lopes

Born in 1948, in Cape Verde, Leão Lopes has created numerous documentaries about the arts of his home. He studied Visual Arts and Design at the Lisbon University of Art (Portugal) and later served as a Professor of Visual Education. He was a member of UNESCO’s INSULA 2000, an organization for the development of the Island States. He was also Cape Verde’s Minister for Culture and Communication. Lopes directed Isle of Contempt (llhéu de Contenda – 1995), the first Cape Verdean fictional feature film. He is also director of various documentaries including Bitú (2009) which was about the Mindelo native artist filmed in 2006, and São Tomé - Os Últimos Contratados (2010). Learn More