Cinema of Guinea-Bissau

I first saw it at the Fitas na Rua in Lisbon, a brilliant series of cinema events that every Saturday and Sunday in August makes one public place in the city (garden, square, park, whatever) a cinema theater. I though it was a fantastic film and it was made by a director I had never heard of. Flora Gomes.

The film was Flora Gomes’ Udju Azul Di Yonta and it became one of the influences for my documentary.

Before making Tomé, I was looking for Lusoafrican films to get into the mood; As African cinemas go, Guinea-Bissau is not well researched and there’s not that much about written about its history in film. So it seemed interesting.

According to IMDB 9 films were made in Guinea-Bissau out of which I’ve seen 5.

Flora Gomes. Gomes hails from Guinea-Bissau but lives in Europe (Lisbon and Paris) and is the country’s most influential (and perhaps the only active) film director.

1995 - A Mascara (Haven’t seen.)

1988 - Mortu Nega, also viewable in the African Film Library. (Seen.)

1996 - Po di Sangui (aka L’arbre aux âmes or Pau de Sangue or Tree of  Blood). Viewable in the African Film Library. Review on New York Times. (Seen.)

1992 - Udju Azul di Yonta (aka Les yeux bleu de Yonta, Os olhos Azuis de Yonta, The Blue Eyes of Yonta). Viewable on African Film Library and MUBI. (Seen.) Synopsis: The daily life of a series of characters in a country, Guinea Bissau, rebuilding after long years of war. The focus is mainly on the beautiful and irreverent Yonta, a girl of the new generation.

[2002 - Nha Fala. in parenthesis, because even though this is a film by Flora Gomes, it was filmed in Cape Verde and Paris, as Guinea-Bissau at the time (2001) was in political turmoil. (Seen.)]

Woyingi gives a good overview of Flora Gomes’ early years, and the influences of Ousmane Sembene, Santiago Álvarez, Paulin Soumanou Vieyra, and Chris Marker on the development of his career as a film director. Nwachukwu Frank Ukadike interviews Gomes in his excellent book Questioning African Cinema: Conversations With Filmmakers.

Others

1. Fanado by unknown (1984). (Haven’t seen.)
2. N’tturudu byUmban U’kset. (Haven’t seen.)
3. N’tturudu by Umban U’kset (aka The Mask) (1986) (Haven’t seen.)
4. Xime by Sana Na N’Hada (1994) 6.2/10 (6 votes) (Haven’t seen.)
5. Chris Marker’s Sans Soleil (1983) was also partly filmed in Guinea-Bissau. (Seen.}