Skip to main content
Cesária Évora film image, director Ana Sofia Fonseca

Cesária Évora

This event has passed

Canadian Premiere

Ana Sofia Fonseca’s documentary about legendary Cape Verdean singer Cesária Évora reveals the complex woman behind the rich, deeply resonant voice that catapulted her to international fame at the age of 50. Using found archival film, historical photographs, old recordings, and concert footage, the film captures Évora’s incredible rise and does not turn away from her troubled childhood, decades of poverty, her struggles with drinking, and years-long bouts of depression. Instead, it presents these challenges with tenderness and care.

The film offers a rare glimpse into both her tragic and triumphant experiences, and features rare interviews with those closest to her. It also captures the singer’s mischievous humour, her love of Cabo Verde, her generosity to her community, and her extraordinary ability to translate emotion into melody. Masterfully edited and beautifully shot, the film is anchored in Évora’s morna songs, and the beautiful and melancholic landscape of her home island of São Vicente in Cabo Verde. Fascinating for both devotees and those discovering her for the very first time.

 

Media Partner

Stir Logo

Community Partner

Director
Credits
Country of Origin

Portugal

Year

2022

Language

In English, French, Portuguese, and Creole with English subtitles

Film Contact
Links
18+
94 min
Art, Music & Photography Documentary Women Directors

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

Fairy Creek

Dir. Jen Muranetz
86 min

Considered the largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history, the Fairy Creek blockade led to more than 1200 arrests. What Jen Muranetz's film gives us is the story from the front line from the activists' point of view (often, from the treetops).

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Super Happy Forever

Dir. Kohei Igarashi
94 min

This beguiling film depicts a man’s return to the Japanese seaside town where he met his now-deceased wife five years earlier. He tries to relive the past, and in the film's final section -- a flashback to 2018 -- the audience is afforded that privilege.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Inedia

Dir. Liz Cairns
107 min

Liz Cairns makes a mesmerizing feature debut that sees a young woman suffering from mysterious food allergies join a remote island community practicing alternative healing methods. She soon realizes that not everything is as it seems.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
Drop Dead City
Drop Dead City film image; someone holding a newspaper up in front of a brick wall

Drop Dead City

Dir. Michael Rohatyn & Peter Yost
108 min

New York, 1975. The city is minutes away from bankruptcy and President Gerald Ford wants no part of it. Sanitation workers are on strike and cops are telling tourists it's not safe to visit. The town is going up in flames and they can't pay the firemen.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The Hustler

Dir. Robert Rossen
135 min

Prime Paul Newman as Fast Eddie Felson, a hungry pool shark who knows he's the sharpest guy in the room. Jackie Gleason and George C Scott have other ideas.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Boxcutter

Dir. Reza Dahya
88 min

The first feature from former Toronto Flow OTA Live host and producer Reza Dahya is a boisterous, sometimes bruising day-in-the-life of wannabe rapper Rome (Ashton James), set on meeting megastar Richie Hill (Rich Kidd).

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Credits

Executive Producer

Ana Sofia Fonseca

Producer

Ana Sofia Fonseca, Irina Calado

Cinematography

Vasco Viana

Editor

Cláudia Rita Oliveira

Director

Ana Sofia Fonseca headshot, Cesária Évora director

Ana Sofia Fonseca

Ana Sofia Fonseca is a natural storyteller. Born in Portugal, she lives with one foot in her home country and the other in Cabo Verde—she has a house two steps away from Cesária’s house. Évora is her second feature-length documentary, following an award-winning 20 year career in journalism, in which she worked on over 20 television documentaries, and published five nonfiction books and a novel. For years, she has dedicated herself to telling compelling stories with a focus on human rights themes—particularly stories about women rights and race issues.

Filmography: Setembro a vida inteira (2018)