Quirino, 76, has lived all his life in the Cape Verdean ghost village of Ribeira Funda, which was deserted 40 years ago. In 1983, a man was killed by a rock that broke loose following heavy rainfall. As a result, all the villagers moved to nearby Estância de Brás—all except Quirino, that is.
Here in this deep and spectacular valley between the sea and the mighty mountains, Quirino spends his days alone, but for the company of a chicken and the radio that is his lifeline to the rest of the world. It is on this majestically shot rocky coastline that he reflects on his life and on life in general—on how brief our time is here, never knowing our destination. “Life in Cabo Verde is really hard. It doesn’t give any stability. It’s like a boat without a keel,” he says in this thoughtful and melancholy portrait.
Quirino notices that he is becoming increasingly stiff and forgetful. He faces a dilemma: should he stay or should he leave the only place he has ever known, to live out his last days elsewhere?
Q&A
After the screening, the filmmakers will join us on stage for a short Q&A with the audience.
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The breathtaking shots of the landscape are mostly accompanied by sounds of nature transposed into melodies by the London Contemporary Orchestra.
In his soft-spoken voice-over, we hear Chernov talking about his emotional response to the 20 days that transformed this normal city into a shattered ruin.
Why would you travel to a war zone if you didn’t have to? Maybe because you need an adrenaline kick? Rick from the US couldn’t get into the military, so he came up with an alternative.
