Africa-Press – Mozambique. The documentary The Nights Still Smell of Gunpowder, by Mozambican film director Inadelso Cossa, is among the six works-in-progress films selected for the Venice Film Festival’s Final Cut programme, the organisation announced this Monday.
Final Cut in Venice is the project that has been providing since 2013 concrete assistance in the completion of films from all African countries and from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria. It is one of the projects launched by the Venice Production Bridge of the 78th Venice International Film Festival (September 1-11, 2021), directed by Alberto Barbera and organised by La Biennale di Venezia.
Awards are granted for post-production work such as colour correction and sound mixing.
The Nights Still Smell of Gunpowder is a co-production between Mozambique, Germany, France, Norway, The Netherlands and Portugal.
According to a synopsis from the Berlinale Talents programme at the 2019 Berlin Film Festival, Cossa’s documentary is a “A film essay to question, heal and document the scars and traumas that the civil war left in Mozambique, from the point of view of the people who survived; a personal journey that crosses with the history of the country”.
“Concerned with the fragmented memories of my childhood during the civil war in Mozambique, I return to my grandmother’s village to reveal the untold stories which still haunt my generation,” revealed the director, who received a production and post-production grant from the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).
The Nights Still Smell of Gunpowder joins five other productions, also selected for the Final Cut programme, from Tunisia, Nigeria, Iraq, Morocco and the Central African Republic.
The 78th Venice International Film Festival takes place this year from 1-11 September.
