Maputo Nakuzandza

Q&A with Ariadine Zampaulo on April 2 and 3

In this kaleidoscopic view of a city from dawn to dusk, filmmaker Ariadine Zampaulo guides us through Mozambique’s capital, Maputo, where different lives intermingle easily amid the director’s illuminating, distinct approaches and ideas in presenting cinematic poetry. Workers and tourists, joggers and dancers, real and fictional, move through the bustling and unpredictable urban landscape, each at their own pace and rhythm. Amidst it all, a mysterious woman in a bridal gown and veil wanders ghostlike after having left her cheating husband at the altar. With its repeated gestures and moments of human interconnection, Maputo Nakuzandza, whose threads are united by the ambient sounds of a local radio program, is a triumph of elegant freeform filmmaking.

Escasso (Scarce)
Clara Anastácia and Gabriela Gaia Meirelles, 2023, Brazil, 15m
Portuguese with English subtitles
While walking a dog, self-proclaimed “pet professional” Rose encounters an open apartment empty of its residents. Rose decides to stay, embedding herself in the space amid the owner’s belongings and casually conjuring an imagined friendship with the absent lady of the house. A brilliant mockumentary, Escasso is a profound and playful portrait of life in contemporary Brazil and the lasting reverberations of colonialism.