''Nha Fala'', English title: ''My Voice'' is a 2002 internationally co-produced

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...

directed by Bissau Guinean director

Flora Gomes Flora Gomes is a Bissau-Guinean film director. He was born in Cadique, Guinea-Bissau on 31 December 1949 and after high school in Cuba, he decided to study film at the Instituto Cubano del Arte y la Industria Cinematográficos in Havana. Shot fou ...

. The movie stars

Fatou N'Diaye Fatou N'Diaye is an actress, originally from Senegal, born 1980 in Saint-Louis du Sénégal. Biography At 8 years old, she left Senegal with her mother, and moved to Paris. In 1997, aged 16/17, she was discovered by Oliviero Toscani, commerci ...

(sometimes as Ndiaye), Ángelo Torres, Jean-Christophe Dollé and Bia Gomes.

Plot

It has always been a firm conviction of the family that any woman who sings, will die. Now, while a girl is in France she becomes an international star. She realises that sooner rather than later her mother in Africa will learn that she sings. To solve this dilemma she goes back to her native village and arranges her own funeral, albeit with instantaneous rebirth. She is lying in the coffin while all invited guest form a queue and pass the coffin one by one. When she needs go to the toilet a boy will take her place. And then one of the guests says: How different she looks after having died. Is this an allusion to Bergman's movie "Now About These Women"?

Cast

- Vita * Ângelo Torres - Yano * Jean-Christophe Dollé - Pierre * Bia Gomes - Vita's mother *Jorge Biague -Mito *José Carlos Imbombo -Caminho *

François Hadji-Lazaro François Hadji-Lazaro (22 June 1956 – 25 February 2023) was a French actor, musician and producer. Hadji-Lazaro founded the French independent label Boucherie Productions (1985–2001) and played in many bands such as Les Garçons Bouchers ( ...

- Bjorn * Danièle Évenou - Pierre's mother * Bonnafet Tarbouriech - Pierre's father

Production

The film was shot in

Mindelo Mindelo is a port cityCabo Verde, Statistical Yearbook ...

, one of the country's two cultural city and in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, the music were written and produced by Manu Dibango. It was produced by Fado Filmes, a Portuguese company, alongside les Films de Mai based in France and Samsa Film based in Luxembourg.

, born in Senegal in 1980 learned the Cape Verdean Creole.

Reception

This musical comedy, which accompanies dancing like and its influences, the cheerful and dramatic narrative with African family traditions, with the emancipation of women and the exclusion of foreigners in Europe. The title ''Nha Fala'' (Portuguese: ''A minha fala'', feminine of ''A minha voz'' which means "my voice") also stands for the desire to express his innermost heart, unadulterated and free. The movie was seen in several movie festivals including the 2002 Venice Film Festival where it was awarded, the African Film Festival of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso, the Amiens Film Festival in the north of France., the 3 Continents Festival in

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

, France, the 2002

Carthage Film Festival The Carthage Film Festival (CFF) is an annual film festival that takes place in Tunis and founded in 1966. It is also called by its abbreviation JCC, from its French name, , or by its Arabic title, (''Cinema Days of Carthage''). Initially bienn ...

in Tunisia and the 2003 28th Annual Göteborg (Gothenburg) Film Festival in Sweden. In Brazil, they were seen at the 31st Bahía International Film Festival held in 2004 and the 2007 Itu Film Festival. In 2008, it was seen at the 2008 Göteborg (Gothenburg) Film Festival.

Release

The film was released on 25 May 2003 in Portugal, later it was released in France on 16 June 2003, Guinea-Bissau on 6 March 2004 and later in Cape Verde. ''My Voice'' was later released on DVD in 2013.

References

External links

* * * {{in lang, fr

at C.E,M. (interview with Flora Gomes)
Nha Fala
– shown in Bissau (6 March 2004 – Bissau Media and Publications Agensy (Agência Bissau Media e Publicações))
Nha Fala
on DVD 2002 films Cape Verdean drama films Portuguese comedy-drama films French musical comedy-drama films Luxembourgian comedy-drama films 2002 comedy-drama films Culture of São Vicente, Cape Verde Mindelo Films set in Paris Films shot in Cape Verde Films shot in Paris 2000s French films