Page 69 - Metropolis Megazine nº118

is a Japanese word that means conveying softness and a Verdean identity. It's something
“cherry blossom viewing”. It's dreamlike quality. That's why I that can't be separated, meaning
a word I discovered after I chose it as the title. that even people in the diaspora
started writing the script. It who have never returned will
has a connection to another The need to leave for other never know it; we all know how
island, the one in Japan. One places is a fact of life for returns, departures, distance,
day, almost by chance, I came Cape Verdeans. Can you tell and sometimes even proximity
across this word and felt that it us about this reality and this connect us all. This awareness
somehow contained the spirit destiny in the context of the is something that is born in the
I wanted the film to have, in a film? collective. It's a trait of Cape
metaphorical sense, but also in Denise Fernandes: Yes, the film Verdean identity.
the sense of contrast: Hanami deals with inevitable themes.
is a phenomenon of observation It is a film about the life of a The life of a nanny on Fogo
that causes a shower of petals, girl, Nana, who grows up on the Island: she plays with
and Cape Verde has the opposite island, and it was inevitable for children, goes to school, helps
situation, that is, a situation of me that the film would have with household chores, and
recurring drought—a relevant all these movements of those faces health challenges. It
theme in Cape Verdean culture who leave the island, those who is a sensitive and profound
and identity, which is the lack of return, and those who dream of portrait of a unique reality.
rain and water in the country. leaving. These are themes that Denise Fernandes: The film also
Therefore, I wanted Hanami unite Cape Verdean identity; it is discusses everyday actions; it
to evoke a sense of contrast, something inseparable from Cape doesn't just show extraordinary

METROPOLIS MAY 2025 69