Manga d’terra

Manga d’terra
Basil Da Cunha, Switzerland, 2023, 96’

Drawing its explosive substance from the stories of a Lisbon ghetto, this musical is a tribute to women’s unyielding spirit and the healing power of music. 

Young Rosa moved from Cape Verde to Lisbon to ensure a better future for her two children who stayed at home with their grandmother. But in the bustling immigrant neighborhood of Reboleira, rocked by police raids, the outlook for the future is anything but rosy. The powerful and tender musical which respectfully draws its explosive material from the personal stories of the residents of the Lisbon ghetto is a tribute to women’s indomitable perseverance and the therapeutic power of music.

“At the origin of this project was the need to anchor images of the Reboleira neighborhood in collective memory.
The destruction of this place, where I’ve been living and filming for the past fifteen years, has accelerated. So I wanted to film it once again. To film these houses before they disappeared. These faces too. Especially those of the women too often left out of my previous films.
In the streets of Reboleira, music resonates from all sides. In the 90s, many of the pioneers of Cape Verdean funk moved here and never left. These sounds have been with me for several years. Before they disappeared into the rubble of this changing neighborhood, I felt it was my duty to remember, to «archive», to associate these sounds with the inhabitants through film.
The project began with a neighborhood, its women and its music.
While preparing this film, I met a young vocalist of raw talent, Eliana Rosa. Moved by her voice, charisma and stage presence, her place in my musical project became obvious.“ – Basil Da Cunha