Locarno 2024: Hanami (by Denise Fernandes) | Review
Weaving between the natural and magical, Denise Fernandes’ Hanami explores the beauty in Cape Verde and what it means to have a home. The film is playing in the Concorso Cineasti del presente.
In the middle of Hanami, a Japanese man appears in magical sequence to correlate the volcanos and islands in Japan and Cape Verde. Denise Fernandes’ debut feature, Hanami, brings forth the connection between places and identity, with a modest, yet stoic approach. When asked by a child towards the Japanese man, “What is Hanami?”, he is unsure how to describe it, stating that is it something that can’t be explained, but to see it. This film, with its assured patience filled with mythical tales between the land and sea, aims to capture the beauty through its main character, Nana.
Hanami takes over the course of three sections in Nana’s life. Firstly, Nana as a toddler after her mother, Nia leaves unannounced (due to mental illness), leaving Nana with her grandmother. Secondly, the magical-realist section when Nana’s fever journey enters a surreal sequence from the sea to the volcano. And lastly, Nana as a teenager, building off the two previous sections to define the young woman she is now. The structure provides a straightforward progression in time, where the images speak for the atmosphere and Nana dictates the tone and rhythm with her soft and selective voice. Through precise dialogue and expressions Nana exhibits, a poignancy towards herself, her family, and home is beautifully captured.
In a film with minimal and subtle character development, Fernandes photographs the island in wide full frames with vibrant juxtaposed colors and textures. From the sea blues to the black volcanic soil, or the array of colors on the clothing, Fernandes shows us an island and culture rarely seen on screen. With this rich background of set pieces featuring landscapes of volcanoes, villages, and the sea, Fernandes uses nature as the thematic mythological tales as metaphors towards Nana. Fernandes, who holds different types of homelands; born in Lisbon, Swiss-Italian raised, and ancestry descending from Cape Verde, shows a perspective holding Cape Verde in high regards, reflecting the sublime nature in the film and herself.
One of the more assured debuts at this year’s Locarno Film Festival, implementing both unique storytelling, artistic merit, and stories from a marginalized country, Fernandes revolves a story regarding 21st century genealogy. One can see the film Fernandes making this out of guilty conscience and in Hamani, Nana (and Fernandes) is reckoning with her relationship towards Cape Verde, a place and identity, she is forever tied to.
The 77th Locarno Film Festival is running on August 7-17, 2024 in Switzerland.
