June session of the Cinema and Decolonisation Cycle to screen the Angolan drama Nossa Senhora da Loja do Chinês (‘Our Lady of the Chinese Shop’) at ISEG with free admission
The last session of the 2024/2025 season of the Cinema and Decolonisation Cycle will take place on 7 June (Saturday). The cycle has been running since November 2024, hosting cineclub-style sessions to explore the legacies and memories of decolonisation. The closing session of this season will feature a screening of the Angolan drama Nossa Senhora da Loja do Chinês (‘Our Lady of the Chinese Shop’, Ery Claver, 2022, Angola, 98 min). The film screening will be held at 10:00 a.m. in the Auditorium 2 of the ISEG (Rua do Quelhas 6, Quelhas Building, 2nd Floor), with free admission. Following the film screening, a Q&A session will take place with the participation of the film director, Ery Claver (online), and the Mozambican filmmaker Lara Sousa (online).
Nossa Senhora da Loja do Chinês won the Jury Prize for Best Feature Film in the International Competition at the 42nd edition of the Festival International du Film D’Amiens (FIFAM), and the Award for Best Soundtrack at the 28th edition of Africa’s largest film festival, FESPACO – the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou. It was also nominated for the “Best Film” award at both the 20th edition of the Tarifa~Tangier African Film Festival and the 1st edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Synopsis – Nossa Senhora da Loja do Chinês (Ery Claver, 2022, Angola, 98 min)
When a chinese merchant brings to a neighbourhood of Luanda a peculiar holy plastic figure of Our Lady, a mourning mother will seek peace, a committed barber starts a new cult and a stray kid will look for revenge for his lost friend. This bizarre urban tale will reveal a family and city facade full of resentment, greed and torment.
Credits
Written and Directed by: Ery Claver
Producer: Jorge Cohen
Executive Producers: Sílvio Nascimento e Elias Ribeiro
Director of Photography: Eduardo Kropotkine
Art Direction: Prudênciana Hach
Assistant Director: Kamy Lara
Production Director: Rossana David
Main Cast: Cláudia Púcuta, David Caracol e Willi Ribeiro
Narrator: Meili Li
Original Music: Ismael Suama
Editor: Zeno Monyak
Sound Engineer: Oswald Juliana
Camera Assistant: Alfredo Tino
Tradução Mandarim: Xinyi Li
Awards
Best Original Score – 28th edition of FESPACO (Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou)
Jury Prize for Best Feature Film – Amiens International Film Festival, France
Best Southern African Actress – Sotigui Awards 2023, awarded to Cláudia Púcuta for her performance as Domingas
Nomination for Best Film – 20th edition of the Tarifa-Tangier African Film Festival, Seville, Spain
Nomination for Best Film – 1st edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Official Selection – Screened at several international festivals, including the International Film Festival of India, Porto Post Doc Film Festival, Festival do Rio, BFI London Film Festival, Film Fest Ghent, and Göteborg Film Festival
Get to know the director:
Ery Claver is one of the most versatile filmmakers in Angola. He began his career as a cameraman, working on numerous television programs and documentaries. In 2013 he joined the collective Geração 80 and deepened his style as Director of Photography working on the short films “Concrete Affection – Zopo Lady” (2014), and “Havemos de Voltar” (2017), both directed by Kiluanji Kia Henda. As a director he has signed several short films, most notably “Lucy in the Sky with Traffic Lights” (2018) in partnership with Gretel Marín and “Enóquio que não tinha coração” (2020) in partnership with his brother, Evan Clever. Ery has had his work screened at several international festivals, most notably the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, in France, VIDEOEX – International Experimental Film and Video Festival, in Zurich, and FCAT – African Film Festival, in the cities of Tarifa and Tangier. In 2019, Ery went on to co-write and do the direction of photography of the award winning Angolan film “Air Conditioner”, directed by Fradique. Recently he just finished directing his first feature film “Our Lady of the Chinese Shop
About the Cinema and Decolonisation Cycle
The sessions of the Cinema and Decolonisation Cycle will continue until June 2025, with screenings taking place in Auditorium 2 at ISEG (with the exception of the 5 April, which will be held at the National Museum of Ethnology). This initiative runs parallel to the exhibition Deconstructing Colonialism, Decolonising the Imagination, on display at the National Museum of Ethnology until 2 November.
Check out the programme below:
Decolonisation must be understood as an ongoing process, one that needs to be embraced and integrated into social, political, cultural, and personal dynamics. The project aims to create an open, dynamic space for sharing memories, narratives, dialogues, and reflections. It is coordinated by researcher Jessica Falconi (CEsA/ISEG/ULisboa) and curated by researcher and filmmaker Isabel Noronha (CEsA/ISEG/ULisboa) and filmmaker Camilo de Sousa.
Coordination: Jessica Falconi (CEsA/ISEG/ULisboa)
Curation: Isabel Noronha (CEsA/ISEG/ULisboa) and Camilo de Sousa
Scientific Consulting: Isabel Castro Henriques (CEsA/ISEG/ULisboa), Joana Pereira Leite (CEsA/ISEG/ULisboa), and Ana Mafalda Leite (CEsA/ISEG/ULisboa)
Collaboration: Luca Fazzini and João Moreira Silva
Support: CEsA/ISEG/ULisboa
Read more:
Nossa Senhora da Loja do Chinês – Geração 80
Cinema and Decolonisation Cycle | Screening of the film “Our Lady of the Chinese Shop” – ISEG Website
Programme for the 2024/2025 season of the Cinema and Decolonisation Cycle, in parallel with the exhibition ‘Deconstructing Colonialism, Decolonizing the Imagination’
Author: CEsA Communication Team (comunicacao@cesa.iseg.ulisboa.pt)
Image: Reproduction
