José Miguel Ribeiro’s stunning feature-length animated film examines the Angolan Civil War through the lives of three generations of women, and embraces reality and mysticism.
Nayola works hard to raise her daughter, Yara, while her husband fights in the Angolan Civil War. But when he’s reported missing, she reluctantly leaves Yara with her grandmother, Lelena. Decades later, after a peace settlement has been reached, Nayola, along with her husband, are still missing. Yara has grown angry and subversive, and become a popular rap singer who attacks the powers that be, while Lelena agonizes over her lost daughter and imperiled granddaughter. Originally intended as a hybrid documentary/animated feature, director José Miguel Ribeiro settled on animation only, to capture the story based on the lives of friends of his who endured Angola’s almost three-decade long civil war.
Director Biography
José Miguel Ribeiro was born in 1966 in Amadora, Portugal and graduated from the Fine Art School. He is the director of numerous animated shorts, including “The Suspect” (“A Suspeita”) (2000), which won numerous awards worldwide, including Europe’s Cartoon d’Or. Nayola (2022) is his debut feature film.