MoreThan Films has secured international sales rights to Denise Fernandes‘ feature debut “Hanami,” premiering next Wednesday in the Concorso Cineasti del Presente section of the Locarno Film Festival.
Set on a remote Cape Verde volcanic Island where most people are looking for ways to leave, “Hanami” is the story of Nana. Suffering from a strange illness, the young girl catches a fever and must journey to the foot of a volcano for treatment. There, she finds a world that blurs the lines between dreams and reality. Years later, when Nana reaches her teens, her mother reappears in her life.
Fernandes was born in Lisbon to parents from Cape Verde and grew up in Switzerland. A filmmaker for over a decade, her breakout came with 2020’s “Nha Mila,” which screened in competition at festivals such as Locarno and Uppsala and was nominated for best short at the Portuguese Film Academy Sophia Awards.
Of “Hanami,” Fernandes said, “Growing up in Europe, I noticed that Cape Verde was often omitted from world maps and globes because of its small size. As one way to make it visible, I made Cape Verde and its people the central theme of my first feature film.”
Fernandes co-wrote the film with celebrated Portuguese filmmaker Telmo Churro, whose 2022 feature “Índia” played at festivals including Thessaloniki and São Paulo and was nominated for a Portuguese Golden Globe.
“Hanami” is produced by Alina Film and O Som e a Fúria, with Ventura Film and RSI Radiotelevisione Svizzera co-producing.
Breaking the news to Variety, MoreThan managing partner Queralt Pons Serra added, “‘Hanami’ is an incredibly beautiful and cinematic film. In her debut, Denise Fernandes demonstrates and consolidates her artistic vision by presenting a story set in Cape Verde where, through her characters rooted in the territory and magnificent landscapes, she speaks of belonging, of leaving and returning and of how the land and soil around the protagonist act as a mother figure by offering her protection and a safe haven.”