João Ribeiro starts shooting ‘Granma Nineteen and the Soviet’s Secret’ in Maputo and Matola – PICS

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João Ribeiro starts shooting ‘Granma Nineteen and the Soviet’s Secret’ in Maputo and Matola – PICS

3:30 CAT | 13 Sep 2018

Photo Courtesy: João Ribeiro Facebook

Filming began on Monday for ‘Granma Nineteen and the Soviet’s Secret’, a new movie by Mozambican filmmaker João Ribeiro. Shooting in the cities of Maputo and Matola is scheduled to run until 11 October.

The script is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Angolan writer Ondjaki.

The idea of bringing ‘Granma Nineteen and the Soviet’s Secret’ to the big screen comes from Ribeiro’s fascination with the book, his knowledge of Ondjaki’s work and the friendship they share.

With a budget estimated at one million euros, ‘Grandmother 19’ is a co-production between Mozambique (Kanema Produções), Portugal (Fado Filmes) and Brazil (Grafo Audivisual).

Filming locations include Matola’s Hanhane neighbourhood and Maputo’s Costa do Sol and Coop areas, as well as Catembe.

Ribeiro says the film is a political and social satire set in the 80s and portraying both a love story and the intimate relationship that people have with the space in which they live.

As protagonists in the film, the director has sought out a cast of children who have never appeared in films before, including Keanu Bastos, Caio Canda and Thainara Calane Barbosa.

The director has also conscripted a number of renowned Mozambican actors, such as Ana Magaia (who plays Grandmother Catarina), Mário Mabjaia (old fisherman), Adelino Branquinho (Senhor Osório), Cândida Bila (Dona Libânia). There are also Evaristo Abreu (Senhor Truales), Eduardo Gravata (Soldier 1), Elliot Alex (petrol pump attendant) and Iva Mugalela (Tia Antónia).

From Brazil and Portugal come Flávio Bauraqui (starring in ‘Espuma do Mar’) and Dmitry Bogomolov (Bilhardov) respectively. Flávio Bauraqui is known for performing in both ‘telenovelas’ and in the movies. Bogomogov is a Russian who has lived in Portugal for many years, also much in demand for various cultural productions.

Ribeiro surprises by bringing into the movie Mozambican cultural figures who are not actors per se, such as Anabela Adrianoupulos and Filimone Meigos.

Adrianoupulos, who plays “Grandmother 19”, is a well-known face on national television, but has never acted in a feature film before. The same goes for writer and academic Filimone Meigos, whose day job is director general of the Higher Institute of Arts and Culture (ISARC).