Mozambican culture has once again asserted itself beyond its borders with Stewart Sukuma's participation in the screening of the film "The Anchorage of Time" at the University of Bayreuth, Germany, as part of the African Film Festival 2025/26.
The work, directed by Sol de Carvalho and inspired by Mia Couto's book "The Frangipani Balcony," asserts itself as a narrative deeply rooted in Mozambican memory and identity.
The presence of Stewart Sukuma, as musical director and actor, highlighted the central role of music in the film's aesthetic and symbolic construction, reinforcing the contribution of Mozambican artistic creation in international spaces of academic and cultural reflection.
"Seeing a work with Mozambican DNA exhibited at a European university, in a space of thought and knowledge production, is to understand that our narrative has a place in the world," stated the artist.
During his stay in Germany, Sukuma also led a lecture dedicated to Mozambican music and the creative process of the soundtrack. The session brought together students and researchers interested in understanding music not only in its aesthetic dimension, but also as a language of memory, identity, and thought.
“The soundtrack was conceived to reveal the emotions and silences that inhabit the images, integrating itself into the narrative in a sensitive and profound way,” he explained.
The meeting also included a dialogue with Professor Ute Fendler, who highlighted African art as a living archive of memory. Also participating were the filmmaker and griot Dani Kouyaté and the academic Tendayi Sithole, who recognized in Sukuma's music an artistic and philosophical expression of great density.
According to the musician, the screening of “The Anchorage of Time” consolidated the presence of Mozambican music and cinema on the international scene, not only as entertainment, but as an active contribution to the construction of thought.
The film, which will soon be shown at the Cine-Teatro Scala, portrays the story of Izidine, a police inspector tasked with investigating the murder of Vasto Excelêncio, director of a nursing home located in the São Nicolau Fortress. During the investigation, Izidine encounters an unusual situation: each of the nursing home residents claims to be the perpetrator of the crime.
(By MozaVibe)
