Hanami

Synopsis

Nana is a young girl living on a remote volcanic island that much of her family, including her mother, have long since fled. When Nana falls ill to a strange fever, she is sent to the foot of the island’s volcano for treatment by the local healer. There, she encounters a world steeped in magical realism, suspended between dream and reality.

Hanami is a stunning, surreal look at family and community in Cabo Verde, an island nation whose diaspora far outnumbers its residents. Exploring the necessity of migration and the void it leaves behind, filmmaker Denise Fernandes paints a sweeping portrait of the inherited echoes between daughters and mothers — all set against the otherworldly landscape of Ilha do Fogo, Cabo Verde and its volcano.