Portugal

71′21″, 2022.

DIRECTED BY

Catarina Alves Costa

PRODUCED BY

Pedro Borges

CINEMATOGRAPHER

João Ribeiro

EDITED BY

Pedro Duarte

This story explores the mid-century archival films by German woman musician Margot Dias who documented life in the extreme north of Mozambique Africa, then a Portuguese colony. The films are an unprecedented visual and sound records of the Makonde culture. Filmmaker Catarina Alves Costa brings these color films and black and white photographs back to the community. Contemporary musicians, artists and a new generation reflect on these images and this period of colonial history. Alongside, we learn about Dias’ life and work in her own words. 

Catarina Alves Costa is a filmmaker and anthropologist. She directed, among other films, Pedra e Cal (2016), Falamos de António Campos (2010), Nacional 206 (2009), O Arquiteto e a Cidade Velha (2004), Senhora Aparecida (1994) and recently co-directed A Ramadan in Lisbon (2019). Her films received numerous awards at festivals worldwide. She recently released the book Cinema e Povo, 2022.