A young African woman challenges traditional narratives, familial expectations and a generational curse by using her voice.
Nha Fala (My Voice) is a musical film following Vita, a young woman who learns that she can’t use her voice because the women in her family have been placed under a curse. According to her mother, singing would mean death. Right before she leaves to start a new life in Paris, Vita heeds her warning and promises not to sing.
When we are reintroduced to Vita in Paris, she has fallen in love with Pierre, a musician. He overhears her singing to herself one night and convinces her to record an album. Vita resists and tells him about the curse, but soon gives in when he makes a compelling case and agrees to travel back home with her to break the news to her mother.
Back in her home town, Vita holds a funeral for herself as her singing debut — effectively undoing the curse by being reborn.
Shot in Cabo Verde but set in Guinea-Bissau, the film pays homage to nationalist leader Amílcar Cabral through a gift Vita rejects from an overeager suitor: a bust of Cabral’s likeness that ends up being ferried around the streets throughout the film.
I enjoyed the lighthearted yet thoughtful approach to a wide range of themes from death to colonialism and romance. There were however a few moments thrown in that made me question the satirical context of the film. In the first musical number, Vita makes the statement “this is like a nightmare, but I thank God I am neither black nor African” - which is odd, because she is.
When the story pivots to Vita’s life in Paris, we encounter a white man who occasionally breaks out in song to remind us that he doesn’t like black people. Pierre’s own mother says something about how she’ll need time to get used to the idea that her grandchildren will be darker than her.
