Important Dates

23.11.2026, Cineplex Bayreuth
6 pm with German subtitles
8 pm with English subtitles

Denise Fernandes: Hanami
96 min | Drama | Cape Verde / Switzerland / Portugal, 2024

Hanami tells the coming-of-age story of Nana, who is left behind on a remote volcanic island by her mother Nia when she is still a baby. When Nana develops a high fever, she is taken to the foot of a volcano for treatment, where she encounters a world suspended between dream and reality. Years later, when Nana is a teenager, Nia finally returns to the island. Mother and daughter must confront what their long separation has left behind.

Filmed on the Cape Verdean island of Fogo, Hanami combines Nana’s deeply personal story with the striking volcanic landscape of the island, exploring themes of longing, belonging, family and the bonds between people and place.

DENISE FERNANDES was born in Lisbon in 1990 and is of Cape Verdean descent. She studied film at the Conservatorio Internazionale di Scienze Audiovisive (CISA) in Lugano and at the Escuela Internacional de Cine y TV in Cuba. Her short films Bread Without Jam (2012) and Idyllium (2013) received several awards. Hanami is her first feature film. It celebrated its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival in 2024 and has since received several international awards, including the Roger Ebert Award at the Chicago International Film Festival, the Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award at the Göteborg Film Festival and the MAX Award for Best Feature Film at IndieLisboa.