UNDER THE BAOBAB TREE

As she journeys between Brazil and Mozambique, Valentina Homem tells the story of her anthropologist parents who went to document the country’s 1975 socialist revolution. She investigates the relations and contradictions between the old Portuguese colonies and contends with the new geo-political reality: the neocolonial presence of Brazil in Mozambique and the context of global capitalism. Progressively, a personal existential crisis also surfaces. 

Pursuing her hybrid cinematic work - a blend of documentary, narrative filmmaking, and archive footage - Valentina Homem sets off on an intimate and political road movie in Mozambique. A poetic essay that weaves colonial history, a quest for family memories, and political commentary. As she journeys between past and present, the director must also address whether new imaginary worlds are still possible. An opportunity to open her narrative to a new form: fiction. Through imagination, the film explores ways to imagine a future for Mozambique and Brazil by creating a dystopian reality. Drawing inspiration from Patricio Guzmán’s trilogy of the Motherland, in which the script and the story are built as the film unfolds, the director seeks to make rich, deep, and stimulating philosophical work.