Portugal, Brazil and Mozambique / 2020 / 94mins / Drama, Coming of Age / Portuguese

Adapted from the novel by esteemed Angolan author Ondjaki, this coming of age tale brings us into the multilayered world of Jaki, a young boy from a small coastal African village living in a cousin-filled house headed by his spunky grandmother Agnette. Jaki spends his days with best friends Pi and Charlita and they discover that a local construction site of a huge mausoleum guarded by Russians threatens to demolish their entire neighborhood. Their spirited efforts to foil this plan are met with the unanticipated involvement of a secretive Soviet.

João Ribeiro

João Ribeiro was born in Mozambique and studied cinema in Cuba at the International School of Cinema and TV. He has worked as a director, screenwriter, and producer on a number of documentary and fiction films which have been screened at festivals worldwide including, Cannes Film Festival, Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) and Amiens International Film Festival. Some of his films include Fogata, O Olhar das Estrelas (The Gaze of the Stars), which was a part of the first fiction series produced by SABC (South Africa Broadcast Corporation), called Africa Dreaming, and Tatana, all based on original stories from the Mozambican writer Mia Couto. As a producer and co-producer, he has developed a variety of projects with colleagues from all around the world (Ali, The Interpreter and Blood Dimond are some of the Hollywood movies he has been involved with). Ribeiro is a founder member of AMOCINE (Mozambican Association of Film-Makers) and of SACOD (Southern African Communications for Development). He is also a member of INCD (International Network for Cultural Diversity), FAR (Filmmakers Against Racism) among other associations. He has taken part in various workshops and conferences, presenting and promoting Mozambican cinema and African cinema in general. He has also worked as a cinema monitor for various training workshops in Africa and in Europe. Granma Nineteen and the Soviet's Secret (2020) is his second feature film. Learn More