João Ribeiro, Portugal/Brazil/Mozambique, 2020, 94m

Adapted from the novel by esteemed Angolan author Ondjaki, this coming of age tale brings us into the multilayered world of Jaki, a young boy from a small coastal African village living in a cousin-filled house headed by his spunky grandmother Agnette. Jaki spends his days with best friends Pi and Charlita and they discover that a local construction site of a huge mausoleum guarded by Russians threatens to demolish their entire neighborhood. Their spirited efforts to foil this plan are met with the unanticipated involvement of a secretive Soviet.

This screening is a part of the New York African Film Festival (NYAFF)